Sunlight beat down on Jennifer through the dusty windows of her master’s shop, as she tried to stop herself from nodding off. She hadn't gotten any sleep last night, thinking of a way to deal with the imminent invasion that was coming.

So far, she hadn't managed to think of anything. How would she explain to anyone that she had somehow traveled back in time after having seen monsters run through the city?

Who would I tell this to anyways? If we need to run, then we'd need money and a place to run to. And a good excuse for why we need to make this sudden trip as well. So far, my only lead seems to be that person in the guild.

She sighed, having been unable to come up with anything as of yet. She had looked into time-travel magic as well, and anything related to this mark but so far, all of it had either been theoretical possibilities of such magic, or fairy tales and myths. She didn’t have many books on a topic as exotic and rare as time travel either.

A visit to the library was in order. She was sure that something could explain this mark and how she had returned in time.

"Jennifer, come here, I need yer help," her master called from inside the shop.

Taking a moment to finish the page she was reading, Jennifer put the books away and walked inside. She opened the door to the inside of the shop. A staircase led downwards, into the forge. She saw the orange glow coming from the bottom room and heard the clang of hammers hitting metal ringing out.

He’s forging something.

She took the ladder down, opening the heavy gate that led into the closed off room. A wave of heat hit her body as she entered. She started to use the wind loop she had picked up on, to create a gentle gust of wind around her.

“Come here lass, get that mithril dust for me and make a fortifying inscription on this slab here,” her master ordered, not looking up from where he sat, inspecting the metal ingot in his hand.

“Alright,” she said and went to pick out the items. The mithril dust was kept sealed inside a jar in the closet where her master kept most of his alchemical catalysts. She took out the jar, taking a small handful of the mithril dust on a piece of cloth which she carefully rolled up as she put the rest of the jar back.

Wait, wasn’t this that time when he got a fault in the metal and had been pissed off about it for a whole week.

She turned towards her master. “You really shouldn’t use that ingot,” she said. Her master continued to inspect the metal before he sat up and grunted.

“Why?” he asked.

“Well, because it-” She paused. Right, how do I explain that it probably has a small defect on the inside, if he can't detect it?

“It...doesn’t look that good to me. Just a gut feeling,” she said, cringing internally at how stupid that sounded.

“Hmm, ye’r right. It doesn’t ring right to my ears either. But I was hesitating because the sound was so small, then how’d ye catch on to it? There’s no saying gut for this, or if ye’d had such a strong gut then I’d have apprenticed yer as a smith instead of an enchanter.”

She got up, walking up near the forge with the mithril dust as she wiped her sweat away. “It’s really nothing, I just felt the mana. It doesn’t go through the metal uniformly.”

“The mana you say,” he paused, inspecting the metal once more, and Jennifer let out a sigh internally.

“I suppose one can find faults that way if they’re sensitive enough. Hmm. Curious, have you leveled up recently?”

“Err, yeah. I did. I got a new skill as well. [Lesser Arcane Analysis],” she said, deciding there was no point in lying here.

“Arcane Analysis, a mage skill that one, it fits yer way of enchanting for sure,” he said, rubbing his chin as he went to get another metal ingot.

I need to be careful about stuff like this.

She started to create the inscription. Drawing the incriptions with chalk first. Then she took out a small amount of the mithril dust. It looked just like silver dust, if not for the strong mana it gave off. She traced the inscription with the dust. Drawing the runes carefully around the anvil. Her master was back with the new metal ingot and started to light the fire, heating the metal.

The heat started to blaze, and she wiped a bead of sweat about to drip down on her hands and mess up the inscription lines. She walked around the area, checking her inscription for any mistakes before walking a bit further away.

Her master was a Runesmith, a level 30+ Mithril ranked [Runesmith], and while his field was smithing, his enchanting was still just as great. She sat down further ahead. Her eyes closing, to the steady beats of the hammer ringing out.

“Stop sleeping! Startup the reinforcement enchantment for me.”

Jennifer jerked, realizing that she had fallen asleep somewhere along the way. “Right, on it,” she said and walked up to the anvil.

“Stay back, it’s hot,” the man said before he put his hand in the burning forge and pulled out the glowing hot piece of metal. Placing it on the anvil, he took out his hammer.

“[Greater Heat Preservation] [Arcane Touch] [Song of Mithril],” he said quickly using three skills in succession. Then with a powerful slam, he hit the metal and Jennifer felt the wave from that blow travel through the ground. The anvil seemed to sink into the ground, the stone pavement cracking against the force.

“Put more mana into it girl” he shouted, not pausing for a breath, as he continued hammering, the metal not letting off flames as he did. She put her hands to the ground. Furrowing her brows as heat stung her face, she poured mana through the enchantment. Blue runes lit up the area, spreading through the ground around the anvil.

Her master started to hammer quicker and quicker, and she felt the mana around her stir. Runes floated in front of him, and she saw them etch themselves onto the metal. The lines of mithril ran through them, carrying magic through the metal as it was forged. His hammer now moved faster than before, and she had trouble following his arm.

Then, all of a sudden a sharp crack went through the area as he stopped. “Come here Jennifer,” he called out, his voice concerned. Confused, she got up and walked up to him.

“Show me yer hands,” he said and she paused for a moment before putting both hands in front of him.

Small pieces of something covered her arms, glistening in the light.

“What...is that?” she asked out loud. He picked up one of the pieces, putting it in front of his eyes as he inspected the material.

“Glass, it’s glass.” he paused turning towards her. “You never told me you had awakened to glass affinity”

Jennifer stared back dumbfounded. “I-I have?”

“Let’s check it, why not,” he said and grabbed her hand. His dark muscular arms still feeling hot, Jennifer let herself be dragged along.

Walking into his own chamber, he threw aside the stuff lying on top of a wooden trunk where he seemed to have kept a pile of clothes and opened the big box.

“It should be here somewhere, I think I've put it back- Ah, found it.” He pulled out a glass ball, a palm shape at the bottom holder with various small beads and mana stones of various kinds set on it.

“Okay, so, put yer hand on this, and concentrate on channeling your mana. Don’t pour it through the device, it’ll break. Just circulate it inside of ye,” he said and then set the device on a table nearby.

Hesitantly she walked up to the device and placed her hands on it. She started to circulate her mana.

“Good, now close your eyes, and focus on yer core.” She nodded and closed her eyes. Then, channeling her mana, she took a deep breath and started to focus on her mana. It coursed through her body. Moving lazily, it traveled all the way around from her limbs and back, before it faded into an incoherent mess near her abdomen and head.

As she concentrated, images started to come back from that night. A sand spike piercing her shoulder. Images of monsters tearing through people as the fire spread through the city. Dark green eyes stared into her own as a man watched her.

Toying with her as she desperately tried to escape.

“It’s alright. You’re alright girl. You can stop now,” her master said, and she opened her eyes. She noticed tears, covering her cheeks, and her breath was labored. Sniffing, she wiped her eyes.

“A misty white color. It’s glass for sure, quite a rare affinity,” the man said and turned towards her.

“What happened to yer girl? I’ll be here to listen, so tell me what happened.” Jennifer tried to come up with an excuse, but her voice didn’t come out. A slow sob broke out at first, and soon, the dam broke as tears flooded out. She nodded and began to recount the events.

❖❖❖

“And then I was back, all of a sudden. Yesterday night, sitting in my room,” she paused to look at his face. “I know how ridiculous all of this sounds. Time travel is stupid, there’s just no way. I may have even thought of it all as a dream but...” she took away the patch covering her mark, revealing the glowing symbols.

“This thing stayed with me. The mark, the trial called it the Mark of Time. It’s just right out there in my face, telling me that this thing was why I was somehow able to travel back in time and- Ouch.”

She rubbed her head, where her master just hit her, and watched him snort.

“You dumb little fool. Why did you have to run headlong into death’s maw like that? Don’t you have some basic sense in you?”

“B-but, the order was expensive and the man ran without paying, and I just chased after him. Wait, you actually believe me?” she exclaimed, surprise evident in her voice.

“No, I don’t believe this time magic thing. But I ain’t saying yer lying either. I’ve seen awakenings before, girl, it doesn’t just happen on its own. There was always an event that led to it, usually traumatic. I’ve seen people die and lose brothers, the deep downs aren’t a kind place, especially not for a half like me.” he rumbled, going to his closet. He took out a glass and a bottle from his closet.

Walking over, he sat down on a small chair nearby and set the glass on the table. “If what ye say is accurate, and I’m not saying that it isn’t. But let’s say it was a prophetic dream. Then what ye’re telling me is not a matter I can leave so lightly. Demons from the south have never allied with anyone. Those sand abilities ye told me about? They are from the sand tribes from the Ostiri desert in the south, a harsh and dry wasteland. I’ve been near that place, and it is a hellhole with ranked monsters roaming about freely,” he stopped for a moment, pouring the drink into his glass. He set the bottle aside and drank the whole thing in one go.

“Gah, been a while. Where was I? Right, the Ostiri tribes, from what I know, are fractured and have been fighting each other for centuries. An invasion would mean they made their way across the plains to strike here. It’s just such a damn stupid idea that I can see some madman doing it,” he muttered something in another language before taking another drink from the glass.

“Show me that mark of yer,” she nodded and put her hand forward. He inspected the mark, rubbing it over once.

“Not magic ink, or anything like that. This is Arcane, yes. It runs deep too. Where in Elphion's tits did you find this thing? The dungeon? The first floor? Bah, whatever. This thing’s got more magic in it than a tier 5 spell, and it’s all passive!” he exclaimed lifting his hand up in the air as if offended by its existence.

“Try focusing on the mark, you should be able to feel it.” She followed his instructions and tried to probe into the mark.

“Good, now focus on making it invisible. Do it slowly.” Frowning she did as he said, and tried to nudge the mark into fading away. A small wall pushed against her in her mind, but it soon broke down. She opened her eyes to find the mark had disappeared from her hand.

“Thought so. This mark of yer and that trial. Ye say it was from a silver haired man, Irwys, right? I’ve got a few people who might be able to find out who this feller is. I’ll settle some talk with the guild to start moving the residents inwards and to fortify the walls. Damn, come here lass. Before I do that, I need one thing.”

He took another drink from his glass before he grabbed the bottle and put it back in the closet. Kneeling, he opened a locked closet and pulled a scroll from inside. A dusty old piece of paper with a wax seal on it. She could see gold and silver engraved on the seal.

“This is a magic scroll. I’m gonna have to write a truth spell here, and have you swear that what you said is true to the best of yer ability. You can refuse lass, and I’ll try a different approach with the guild. But if yer certain about this invasion, then I suggest you come here and sign this.”

She hesitated, gulping before she nodded. “I will.”

“Alright, then wait there. Oh, and try to summon more glass, we’ll need to train yer affinity up. I don’t have a good feeling about the man yer told me about, if this is some kind of strange magical tracker, then ye need all the weapons yer can get.”

She sat dumbfounded, surprised by how quickly he was acting. She tried to focus on getting some glass, but her mind kept jumping around at the various possibilities, and what could happen.

How do I approach Irwys? How involved is he in all of this? The guild knows, at least, master can try to get talks started. Is it enough? Have I done enough? Where do I go now?

“Done, come here lass.” she turned to see him spread the paper on the table in front of her. “Take a good look, and read the contract carefully. Then, if you agree put yer hand at the bottom, and pour your mana through”

“O-Okay.” she leaned over and had a look at the document. The initial parts just had the inscriptions of the truth spell and a long description of its effects.

‘This is to verify that the aforementioned statement is true and has been verified by Mithril Ranked [Runesmith] Haireth Chainbreaker.’

She took a deep breath and poured her mana through the scroll. A chain bound itself in her mind, similar to the one she had felt with Irwys' Oath skill. The scroll flashed and the words lit up, floating in front of her eyes.

Tier 4: Binding Contract

Spells:

Truth-Spell, Detect Lies, Mana Imprint, Binding Oath

Target: Jennifer Laine/Haireth Chainbreaker

Do you agree to this Contract?

Yes, she thought, and the words dissolved into motes of light, as a link formed magically binding her to the scroll.