Time slow

"B-brothers, let's stop!"

I heard as I felt a hand over my shoulder as clarity washes over me. I looked below me and saw a kid filled with bruises.

"What happened?"

I asked, particularly no one but myself. I then remembered what I did.

Due to the stress piling up my back, I've ureally felt the pressure weighing too much. Although, it's a valid reason to burst out, it's still not fair for me to release my anger on someone I don't even know.

I looked at my brothers and saw that their expressions was the same as I am. Since we were going through the same problems, it's reasonable that we'll feel the same way.

I sighed as I looked at the sky. It was dark, the breeze was cold and occasional sounds of cars can be heard.

I looked at my brothers and said.

"Brothers, what we did was wrong, although we are angry, it's not good that we're releasing it on someone."

They also sighed and nodded their heads. I then looked at the kid lying on the floor and intended to approached him.

"Kid, we're really sorry for what we've done"

But just as I was about a meter away from the kid, my movements suddenly slowed down... Like a lot.

"What... The?"

Even my speech is slowing down! What's happening?!

"B-brother? Are you okay?"

"What are you slowing down for, brother?"

Both my brothers watched me in confusion. From their point of view, I must look like someone dumb who's slowing down suddenly.

"I... don't... know... I... just..."

"You just what brother?"

For the love of who's above, why the hell am I so slow.

"Suddenly... slowed... down..."

...

After what feels like forever of explaining, my brothers finally got was I was saying.

"Wow! That's amazing brother!"

"B-brother, what if you try going out there if you only s-slowed down after going near him?"

Oh! I didn't think about that since I felt panicked a while ago.

"There we go, it worked!"

After walking away slowly for 30 seconds, I finally went back to normal again.

I still feel confused though. I glanced at the kid that's seem to be unconscious since he never looked up or moved for a while now.

"Just what happened?..."

...

Ow!

My head hurts! I rubbed my head as I also felt that I have no energy. But still, I recalled the last words before I passed out.

I gained an innate skill? What does that mean?

'Status'

Name:

Marshall

Age:

10

Level:

1

Condition:

Hungry

Innate skills:

Canvas abyss(passive)

Despair(passive)

Learned skills:

Sword rookie(passive)

Time slow(active)

Huh? I heard about the despair skill but what's this time slow?

"H-hey kid! Are you fine?"

I turned around and saw three boys who's taller than me

"Huh?"

Realization then hit me, aren't they the ones who were beating me up a while ago? This is bad!

"I-Im sorry! Please don't hit me anymore!"

I said as I shivered underneath their gazes. One of them approached me while rubbing his neck.

"Kid, I'm sorry about what happened earlier, I... I mean we didn't to do it. We were just blinded by anger awhile ago. So... can you forgive us?"

He said while looking down, too embarrassed to look at me straight in the eyes, same with the two boys he's with.

I sighed. Too be honest, I'm not that happy with what they did. But looking at how guilty they look while apologizing, I myself, also start to feel guilty for getting mad at them.

I mean, everyone has their outbursts when they're overwhelmed by emotions, especially in out case where we're barely living everyday, its natural that they suppress their emotions much more than normal people.

So while I feel unsatisfied, I also felt that I can relate to them in some ways although it's only been three days that I arrived at this state.

"Sigh... It's fine, we can't really correct the past, can we?"

I smiled as I reached my hand to the person in front of me. After seeing my hand, his eyes lit up and cheerfully smiled. He then held my hand with both of his and moved it up and down.

"I'm really thankful for what you said! By the way, I'm Alex and these two are my brothers. This shy one is Ted and the energetic one is Paul."

He then pulled out a dirty white bag from behind him and pulled out a half eaten long bread. Afterwards, he gave it to me.

"As apology, I want you to take this."

"But-"

"Just take it, or we'll still feel guilty of what we've done."

I saw that while Alex was saying that, he looked at me with pleading eyes, same with Ted and Paul.

"Sigh... Sure"

Now, I know that they're really sincere with their apology since I know how precious this piece of bread can be to people like us.

I tear it in half as I seat down, called Blaze to come beside me and gave him the half

While munching on the bread, I think about what's the purpose of that time slow and despair skills...

'Time slow!'