Battle (END)

Immediately after he activated his astralum and the temporal flow came upon his eyes, Tom concentrated and took control of the temporal force in a radius of seven meters, then he charged toward his opponent.

The wisemonkey was a little surprised to see Tom charge at him as it had been quite a while since the latter had stopped attacking him and merely tried to defend himself to the best of his ability, even though he failed, but that was all, he wasn't wary or anything, what was there to be wary of anyway ?

'Now!' Thought Tom as he felt that his opponent was in the seven meters radius of his astralum.

Without waiting a second, Tom wrapped the temporal force around his opponent - like he had done with mooglie- and hoped that it would actually work.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen and the wisemonkey delivered a blow to his jaw, sending him flying back.

As he was flying backward, Tom felt his brain rattle from the impact. Time seemed to slow down as he spiraled through the air, the trees fading in and out of his vision.

Just as it appeared he was on a collision course with a tree, Tom managed to halt his trajectory. He bolstered his upper body, counteracting his flight path. Once he'd successfully adjusted his course, he redirected the energy of his etherium toward his legs, forcefully anchoring himself to the ground.

He coughed out blood and staggered a little before looking up with a determined face.

'That's not it, just wrapping the temporal flow around him is not the solution, what do I need to do to make his personal temporal flow sto- wait, that's maybe the answer, I should try to influence his personal temporal flow!'

'but how do I do it though, I just know that there exists a personal temporal force, I don't have a clue about how to influence it'

Despite the fact that he didn't know how to influence the personal temporal flow, Tom could feel it instinctually, It either held the solution to stopping time around living beings or was the very obstacle preventing him from achieving that goal, he just had to find a way on how to influence this flow and the only guinea pig he had was the wisemonkey right in front of him.

 Thus, Tom, with his mind that felt strangely quite sharp despite the ever-constant pain he was feeling, charged again toward the wisemonkey while activating his astralum.

This time, his opponent also charged toward him and when he entered Tom's domain, the latter controlled the temporal flow to wrap around his opponent.

However, instead of observing the outcome when the temporal force enshrouded his opponent, he attempted to discern the intricate connections between the temporal flow, temporal force, and an individual's personal temporal flow.

Unfortunately, this attempt was short-lived as the moment the wisemonkey crossed the distance separating them, Tom was sent hurtling through the air once more.

When he managed to stop himself, he rushed another time toward his opponent with the same goal in mind, and was sent flying again after a few seconds.

Not discouraged, he continued to charge, be sent flying back and charge again despite feeling like he was going to collapse each time he received a blow, but he held on and continued, and after what felt like an eternity and several excruciating blows later he finally succeeded.

Tom felt that if what he deduced was to be put in perspective that would be like this: the temporal flow is akin to an expansive ocean. Upon this ocean sail countless boats, each containing a living being. None of us have control over our individual vessels. 

Surrounding these boats are whirlpools, representing our personal flows of time. These currents guide our boats through the ocean and serve as our protective shields against the unforgiving sea.

Now, there's the temporal force, like an oar. Tom believed that with this oar, he could paddle and approach other boats, but he was hindered by the whirlpools.

'If I can find a way to pass through, I can use this oar to halt the boat's motion. So, the issue lies in how I'm utilizing my oar, or more specifically, the temporal force,' thought Tom as he struggled to stand up.

To make a complicated matter simple, the personal temporal flow represented our life expectancy and acted as a guardian against the ravages of time. To halt time around living beings, Tom needed to manipulate his temporal force in a manner that allowed him to navigate through the barrier that symbolized the personal temporal flow.

Knowing where laid the problem and what was the solution to his predicament were actually the good news.

However, there was also bad news, that bad news being that Tom took so much blows that he felt that if he were to take just one more he might collapse, his eyesight was actually blurry, his whole body aching, all of this implied that he had just one chance, if he lost it, that would be the end of him.

Knowing this, Tom activated his astralum as his opponent was charging at him, ready to give the coup de grâce.

In a hurry, Tom seized control of the temporal force. Typically, this process took more time, but the direness of his current situation prompted him to compress it within a mere second. Then, he began shaping the temporal force.

Since he didn't have time to do something fancy - not like he could, even if he had more time - he transformed the temporal force into a sharp, spike-like form and prepared to thrust it into his opponent's personal temporal flow.

As the wisemonkey closed the gap to a mere seven meters, Tom sprang into action and launched the spiky temporal force toward his opponent like he was trying to pierce right through him.

Just when it seemed that it would be the case, a sort of barrier sprang up to protect the wisemonkey, this barrier being obviously his personal temporal force trying to protect him from Tom's aggression.

While Tom's temporal force clashed with the temporal barrier, his opponent, oblivious to the unfolding events, lunged at him, he didn't even try to feint like he had done previously, knowing that his opponent was at the end of his rope.

However, just as his fist was mere inches from Tom's face, Tom temporal force finally got through the barrier and he quickly wrapped his temporal force around his opponent, but this time, since he was doing it from the inside of the barrier, he succeeded in completely stopping his opponent.

The wisemonkey that was almost grinning from ear to ear quickly frowned in confusion as he came to a sudden halt, unable to move even his fingers.

Seeing this, Tom exhaled a breath that he didn't even know he was holding in.

His lips curled up and he said to the wisemonkey in a bright tone, "it seems like hitting me was quite enjoyable seeing the smile you had every time you punched me, but I'm sure you won't be selfish and hoard all the fun for yourself, right ?"

The wisemonkey couldn't understand what Tom was saying, but he was sure that under that cheerful tone something ominous was preparing, and he was right to think so, as Tom actually circulating his etherium toward his right fist.

In fact, Tom concentrated nearly all the etherium in his core, leaving only a bit for maintaining the temporal stasis that was surprisingly not as energy-hungry as he thought it would be.

Knowing that he couldn't certainly maintain the temporal stasis for an extended period, Tom swiftly assumed a fighting stance, and said with a bright smile, "Now it's my turn. Brace yourself."

In a mere split second, Tom's opponent could be seen hurtling through the air like a cannonball, slamming into a tree trunk with such incredible force that he not only perforated the tree but continued his trajectory, smashing into another tree trunk beyond.