Andrew was dashing through the forest at top speed. At first, Aisha was shouting at him to put her down but after a few seconds she quickly shut her mouth. The reason for that were the dark figures she spotted that were accelerating towards them. She closed her eyes trying to form a connection with the plants around them. She then opened them with a terrified expression and gave a big slap on Andrew's back.

"Faster, faster there are three of those tigers following us!" she screamed.

"Stop moving. And you missed one." Andrew grunted as he was doing his best to run. He was aware of the pursuing creatures as the system was constantly sending him updates.

[Four Level 22 Three-Eyed Tigers are pursuing host.]

[Distance to host is 210 metres and decreasing fast.]

[200 metres]

[180 metres]

...

[Host is advised to prepare as there is a high probability of a direct confrontation.]

[There!] Andrew suddenly switched direction and headed towards his left. This only lowered the distance between him and his pursuers to only 50 metres. A few seconds later he found himself atop a cliff. He showed no hesitation as he jumped.

[Warning! A fall from this height will be fatal for both the host and Aisha.]

[Oh shut up, will you?] thought Andrew as he extended his left hand towards the ground.

[Time Barrier Activated: -50 Mana]

[Time Barrier Activated: -50 Mana]

[Time Barrier Activated: -50 Mana]

[You've been dealt damage: -35 HP]

[You've been dealt damage: -22 HP]

[You've been dealt damage: -12 HP]

[You've been dealt damage: -4 HP]

As the siblings were falling down the cliff, Andrew quickly cast three Time Barriers on the air, through which he crashed. As the barriers broke, their falling speed decreased considerably.

[Wisdom +1]

Falling to the ground only decreased Andrew's HP by 4. It was even easier for Aisha who fell right on Andrew's chest.

[You've been dealt damage: -8 HP]

He didn't have time to complain as he quickly looked up and saw the four tigers unmovingly watching them from the top of the cliff. He was about to sigh in relief when his eyes widened.

"Oh will you give me a break?!" he lifted Aisha up and cast Accelerate again before dashing into the forest. He glanced back only to see the tigers using their claws to grab at the cliff before letting gravity do the rest. In less than a few seconds, they would reach the ground.

As Andrew continued to run he suddenly spotted a boy a few tens of meters ahead of him. He was pretty short, about 1.5 metres and had red short hair. He was dressed in a long black robe as he seemed to be studying the plants in front of him. He didn't seem to be more than 10 years old.

[Really?] Andrew complained in his head as he dashed straight to the boy and picked him up in less than a second as he continued to run. Luckily, both the boy and Aisha were pretty light so it was still acceptable.

[Warning! High level being detected! Warning! Malicious intent detected!]

[Location: under host's left arm.]

"Wait what?" Andrew looked down only to jump in fright. He quickly threw the boy away from him and into a tree. As he crashed into the tree, the system kept sending alerts to Andrew.

[Warning! Killing intent detected!]

[Warning! Mana in the surroundings has been locked!]

[Warning! Host's body is being restricted by the frozen Mana!] Well, stating the obvious here as Andrew already found out that he suddenly couldn't move anymore. A childish voice echoed out from behind the dust surrounding the tree.

"Boy, give me one reason why I should not end your life right here and now." as he spoke the boy slowly rose into the air while the mana around him seemed to be boiling. He suddenly didn't seem like a cute little boy, but a ferocious monster. The voice was the only thing that didn't match.

"S-Sir, we didn't mean to offend. We were just running for our lives when we saw you and thought we were saving you as well." Andrew stuttered a bit.

"Do I look like I need saving?" the boy frowned while he raised his voice.

"N-no sir." cold sweat was beginning to show on Andrew's forehead. The boy slowly levitated towards them as the frown on his face grew increasingly clear. Andrew heart was about to burst out of his chest. Andrew was about to beg for their lives when suddenly the boy burst into laughing.

"Bahaha, you should have seen your faces! I'm done, I'm done. Sorry I always thought it is very funny to play around like this with weaklings." he laughed as the mana around them became normal again.

"Now now, tell uncle Vlad here who is chasing you. On account of your nice attempt at saving me I'll resolve your problem haha." the boy kept speaking in a manner which was not fit for his age. Andrew snapped out of his confusion and smiled awkwardly.

[Uncle? You look like 10! Surely you should be calling me uncle, or at least big brother!] of course he didn't give voice to these thoughts. He just pointed to the boy's back. "Those." he answered.

"Eh?" the boy turned around to see the 4 tigers just a few meters away from him ready to pounce.

"These little cats? Scram!" he slapped at the air. Suddenly the tigers displayed a terrified expression as they struggled to flee but it was too late. Invisible ripples spread from the boy's slap and as they hit the tigers they burst into pools of flesh and blood. Then the boy turned around.

"See? No biggie." he laughed.

"Thank you, Sir." Andrew and Aisha quickly thanked Vlad.

"Bah why are you two so formal?Come, come, what are your names?" Vlad asked.

"I am Andrew and this is my sister Aisha."

"Oh? You are not from around here, aren't you?" he suddenly squinted his eyes. The gesture didn't pass unnoticed from Andrew. He also didn't forget that killing intent from before. It was definitely real, he felt it deep in his bones, and the system also alerted him.

"N-no.." Andrew hesitated.

"Where are you from then?" Vlad smiled.

"We are from the Heavenly Eye Guardian City." Andrew decided to not even try to lie. He had the feeling that the boy in front of them would be able to spot any lie coming out of their mouths. It was best not to upset him.

"Oh..wait, do you know someone who goes by the name of Coral?" he thought for a bit and then suddenly asked.

"Yes, I am his disciple." Andrew said. He then grabbed his shirt and pulled, revealing a sun and moon mark on his chest. The mark had glowing runes surrounding it. These days, every powerful cultivator would have a personal symbol which contained their aura. These kind of signatures could not be falsified.

"Ohh, dumb me. Of course, of course! Sorry for that, it's just that in the last years we've had a lot of spies trying to sneak around and I was just being a bit skeptical. Come, come, you seem tired and hungry. Let's get you somewhere where you can eat something." he said as he waved his hand and both Andrew and Aisha rose from the ground. He took off into the distance with the siblings behind him.

The exchange has been brief and the events left the siblings quite shocked. However, that emotion was quickly replaced by pleasant surprise as they were flying. While in the air, Aisha could not take her eyes of the view. The forest was so majestic, and the feeling of flying was extraordinary. She had never felt anything like it before. Besides her, Andrew was also showing a happy expression, for different reasons though.

[Quest Completed: Reward: Mana Root Grade +1]

[Additional Quest Completed: Reward: 2 attribute points]

[Status!] he thought.

*

Host: Andrew (Create Family)

Species: Human

Level: 9 (Mana Apprentice)

Exp: 999/1000

HP: 169/300

Mana: 180/900

Strength: 10

Constitution: 11

Stamina: 9

Vitality: 9

Agility: 12

Dexterity: 11

Intelligence: 20

Wisdom: 8

Available points: 2

Mana Root: Grade 6

Mana Control: Level 22

Elemental affinity: Time (Extraordinary), Wind (Negligible), Water (Negligible), Holy (Negligible)

Skills:

{Inventory(Lv 1)}

Host owns a small independent space in which non-living things can be stored. (1 cubic metre)

{[Inspect(Lv 1)}

System is able to analyze things using the knowledge of the host and knowledge accessible to the system.

{Slow(Lv 7)}

Create pressure with the surrounding time elements reducing the speed of the target by 14%. Dependent on the strength of the host and target. The effect can be increased if host is the target.

{Accelerate(Lv 6)}

Attach the surrounding time elements to the body and accelerate them increasing the speed of host by 12%. Dependent on the strength of the host. The effect can be increased if host is the target.

{Time barrier(Lv 3)}

Freeze the time elements in a certain area to create the effect of a barrier. Durability is dependent on the strength of the host.

{Time Blink(Lv 3)}

Floods the body of the host with time elements and uses them to revert back to an earlier state. Current mana allows for a 0.5 seconds revert.

{Temporal Edge(Absolute Skill)}

Host conjures a temporal blade which is then thrown at the desired target. Once the blade comes in contact with the target, the flow of time will accelerate differently on the edges of the blade. Skill limited by Mana. Current mana allows for a difference of 0.1 seconds.

*

[Ok so I guess I'll add the new points to Wisdom?] Andrew thought.

[Wisdom: 10]

[+1 Elemental Affinity Point]

[Eh? System, what is that?] he asked.

[Like the other stats, the elemental affinities can be upgraded using Elemental Affinity Points.]

Andrew then thought for a second before his eyes brightened.

[Then does that mean I can have any extraordinary affinities with all elements if I have enough points?]

[Affirmative, above extraordinary is also possible.] the system replied. Andrew then used his point without hesitation on his time attribute.

[Elemental affinity: Time (Extraordinary+), Wind (Negligible), Water (Negligible), Holy (Negligible)]

[Eh? Extraordinary+? What are the grades of elemental affinities?] he asked.

[Negligible, Low, Average, High, Top, Extraordinary, Saint. The grades above Saint are locked at this moment. Each grade has the corresponding -/+ stage.]

[Oh, but then...] He wanted to ask more but he was suddenly stopped by Vlad's voice.

"We have arrived." he said smugly.

Andrew looked into the distance and he was quickly dumbfounded. He saw what seemed to be a massive castle surrounded by mountains on three sides. The architecture of the castle seemed very old, however time didn't seem to have diminished the grand and royal feeling it was giving off. The walls around the castle seemed to be at least a hundred metres tall and atop them he could see many towers equipped with what seemed to be some kind of weapons.

"Welcome to the Blood Fortress. Or as others call it, the Red Skies Guardian City." pride could be felt from his voice.