//12// Glad you could join me

[ Purchase successful: Your Agility has been upgraded to 11 for 5 minutes. You spent 10 Aether coins ]

Arsenal's eyes were closed when he heard the gunshot, he thought it was too late and felt like the bullet had penetrated his skin. But the pain was bearable, which was a surprise to him.

When he opened his eyes, Arsenal was dumbstruck, he couldn't believe what he saw, lik3 something out of a fantasy movie that he never imagined could be possible.

"Can I freeze time?" He thought to himself, but that wasn't the case.

[ You can't. You are moving so fast that time appears to slow down on your end. But be careful, this ability is within and out of your control. Without proper mastery, time will return to normal faster than you've accomplished what you intended. ]

"Oh," Arsenal mumbled, for a moment he felt like he was in full control, and that he had slowed down the time for the next five minutes, but then again the system had a point.

He remembers how difficult it was to control himself when his strength was upgraded, although it served its purpose it could have resulted in some unfortunate disaster like killing Ohana without realising it.

"Gotta take this first," He uttered and picked up the bullet that was hanging in mid-air or rather that was slowly headed for his chest. He looked at the Agents, then to Ohana and finally to the General.

"The amulet," He suddenly remembered when he saw it on the man's neck. But before Arsenal could get on his feet to attempt the plot in his mind, time went back to normal.

"Doesn't hurt, does it?" The General asked him, unaware that Arsenal had taken the bullet before it could hit him.

On the other end, Arsenal heaved a sigh of relief, not because he survived the gunshot, but because time went back to normal before he could try to take the amulet. What if it had gone back to normal when his hands were on the General's necklace?

"I'd be dead for sure." He muttered.

"Take him away!" The General ordered the Agents and they swung into action, grabbing Arsenal by the arm ready to take him out of the office.

But Arsenal didn't want to leave without her, since he was tasked with saving her the first time, doesn't it mean that she would be of help to him now a later?

"Let go of me!" He struggled with the Agents, hoping to buy himself enough time to make time slower again. But no matter how hard he tried, nothing seemed to happen, not even closing his eyes and opening them again after a few seconds.

"I said get him out of here, or are you scared that he will kill you too?" The General scolded the Agents, and this time more of them came in to assist, but Arsenal didn't want to spend any coins fighting them. What would he gain from that anyway?

At this point, he just chose to accept his fate until he masters these attributes and summon it when needed.

"Ohana will die," continues to ring in his head.

Arsenal gave up struggling, letting the Agents lead him towards the exit. But before they could step out, Arsenal heard the gunshot and his heart sank to the bottom. However, Ohana did not make a sound. Sure, the General said it wouldn't hurt, but a person would be terrified enough to scream knowing that they would be shot.

It was at this point that Arsenal noticed that the Agents were no longer moving. Their grip on him wasn't as tight as before.

"It worked," He exclaimed,

"And I wasn't even trying."

Without further ado, Arsenal ran back to where Ohana was kneeling before the General and picked the bullet from mid-air. He put it in his pocket and his lips curved into a smile, but then he decided to attempt the risky part.

He stared at the General for a few seconds, before rushing behind him. Since the amulet could not be removed without taking off the necklace, Arsenal had to do the latter first.

"I hate whoever designed this," Arsenal grumbled as he struggled to unfasten the clasps that held the necklace in place. It was tiny and his fingernails were recently trimmed which did not give him enough grip.

"This is a beast mode, come on, can't I have a retractable claw or something?" Arsenal was getting scared, this was taking too long and he wasn't even sure how long this skill would hold.

[ Do you want to equip the retractable claw from the system's shop? ]

"Oh hell no!" He replied,

"It'll cost me a million coins that I don't have… done." Arsenal heaved a sigh of relief when he took off the necklace.

He gently slid the pendant which was the amulet out, and put it in his pocket.

"Should I, or should I not?" He asked himself, wondering if putting the necklace back on the General was worth the risk.

[ Warning: You have thirty seconds left until your upgrade expires]

"Nah, I'm done with this one." He also put his necklace in his pocket and ran back to where the Agents were holding him.

"Woa!" He exclaimed and tried to catch his breath, thirty seconds was not enough to escape this huge establishment, so Arsenal figured that it was best to be locked up, then he'd figure out how to escape.

"System, I hope that this amulet is important." He scoffed, just before the time went back to normal and he was taken out of the General's office.

The agents tossed him into a white room without windows, and before they closed the door, Ohana was thrown into the same room with him.

"Glad you can join me!" He said to her with a slight chuckle, but Ohana ignored him, resting her back on the wall.

"We need to find a way out of…" Arsenal's voice trailed off when he felt something burning his lap. He quickly touched it and realised that the bullets were burning through his clothes.

"No, no no." He dipped his hand in his pocket took out everything and tossed them on the floor,

"Man! That hurts!"

But Ohana couldn't help but notice the thing that he had brought out, and asked

"Isn't that the General's necklace?"