“Haah...haah…...haah…...haah”

Damian flung out of his bed, gasping for sweet air. He was back in his room. Back to this morning. His blessing had saved him again, for better or worse.

“I'm...back here. Again.”

He leaned on his desk, recollecting what had happened. His vision blurred in fury.

“I was so close….so GOD DAMN close!” Damian yelled as he wildly ruffled his hair. “That bastard Charles killed me right after killing the beast! Just cause I mentioned I was from the U.S. he...”

Damian’s voice trailed off as he processed what he said. His rage dissipated and was instead replaced by bewilderment as he thought out loud in the empty room.

“Charles knows what the U.S. is. And then he claimed I was the Traveler based on that. He said ‘If you came from there, then, that means’. Does that mean the Traveler came from the U.S. like me? That would mean there must be others that were transported here from the U.S.. Me and the Traveler at the very least. I wonder if I can meet up with some of my people. Well, before I can even consider that I-”

Knock Knock Knock

The dreaded three knocks were here yet again to remind him that the day had started.

“have to survive today first.”

******

At the gates of the village, Damian prepared to head to Jackson Town. Rose and an opposed Emilia saw him off. He had retraced his steps from the last timeline, staying faithful until Emilia asked to join him in his journey to the town over. This time, Damian decided to keep Emilia at the village, as she would likely interfere with his plans.

“Remind me why I’m not allowed to come too?” Emilia whined.

“You need to go harvest the caught animals.”

“I can do that later! This trip shouldn’t take long.”

“No. It’s bad to procrastinate, you know.”

“Don’t give me that! You’re way more lazy than me.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want you to become like me.” Damian turned to leave, indicating that the conversation was over. “Look, I know you’re just worried but don’t be. I’ll be fine on my own. Rose, keep an eye on her while I’m gone will you?”

“Ok.” Rose nodded as she waved goodbye.

With that, Damian left for Jackson Town.

******

Damian ventured through the busy streets of the marketplace. The vendors constantly called him over to buy their products but he would hastily decline. His goal was not to shop, but to locate a short old man hidden under a black robe.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” A familiar raspy voice called out from behind.

Damian turned to greet the same old man from the last timeline pointing his crooked finger at him.

“Here I was looking for you and you still managed to get the jump on me.”

The old man remained silent. The two stood a few feet apart in the busy street. The crowd unusually diverged from the two, creating an oval in the stream of people. It was almost as if the people were trying to avoid interrupting their meeting.

“Who are you?” Damian questioned the mystery man.

“...”

“Not very talkative, huh?” He sighed and tried a different question. “What did you mean by what you said?

“...”

“What do you want?”

“...”

“Listen here, I-”

“Are you the Traveler?” the old man interjected.

Damian cringed at the mention of the Traveler. That person had caused nothing but trouble for him due to their similarities.

“What? No.”

The old man hung his head low, as if unsatisfied with Damian’s answer.

“I see. What a shame.”

He steadily trudged away, heading towards the bustling crowd.

“Hey, wait a second! You haven’t answered any of my questions!” Damian cried.

He reached out his right hand in an attempt to grab the old man’s shoulder but instead grasped the air. Damian blinked and he was gone. In disbelief, he spun around, searching for the old man but couldn’t discern him from the everlasting crowd around him.

[I took my eyes off him for less than a second. Where did he go?]

Damian struggled against the mass, hoping maybe he could catch up with the old man and only ended up exhausting himself after searching for several minutes.

[What the hell? How did you get away? Damn it old man, I went through all this trouble to find you and you disappear without even answering any of my questions!]

Damian tiredly glanced down at his watch. The time read to be 2:15.

[It’s disappointing but I should move on. The old man probably disappeared like he did last time. He’s not the only thing I’ve come here for so I’ll just continue down my list.]

To the villagers and Rose, Damian had come to Jackson Town to issue a quest but in reality that was the last thing he wanted to do. If he did the same thing as the last timeline, Charles would accept the quest. To work alongside him was the very last strategy Damian wanted to carry out. While using Charles was a sure-fire way to defeat the beast, interacting with him came with the immense danger of slipping up and incurring his wrath. If Charles knew about the U.S., then who knows that else he knows about. Thus, if Charles somehow concluded that Damian was the Traveler again, with whatever knowledge he had, that would result in immediate death. In addition, Damian had acquired a bit of trauma after the last timeline. Just the thought of Charles made him feel uncomfortable and bitter. Therefore, he decided that it would be for the best if relying on Charles was a last resort. From what he thought up, he had two options. Option one was to issue a quest that required C-rank adventurers. By keeping the reward money the same and lowering the quest level Charles would be less inclined to accept their quest since he prioritized the highest paying quests over others. By the time the higher paying quests were gone, their quest should have also been accepted by C-Rank adventurers. However, this came with a disadvantage in strength. Therefore, Damian wanted to try out option two. Option two was to ask for help from someone directly, and Damian had a prime candidate in mind. To increase the odds of the candidate accepting his proposal he needed money. However, Damian decided that the $50 that Frank was lending wasn’t enough so he sought to make some money.

“Hey, Mr. Yuu.”

The vendor popped up from under the counter. He had rough blond hair and wore a simple light green tunic.

“Welcome! How can I help you? I sell all sorts of organic produce from top tier farms!”

“Ah sorry, I’m not here to buy anything.”

“What? Then get on outta here! I’m running a business here.”

“You didn’t let me finish. I’m here to sell you something.”

Damian unclipped the device on his wrist.

“It’s a watch.”

“A watch? What’s that?” Mr. Yuu soothed his goatee.

“This here is a portable clock!” Damian proudly presented.

“That’s a clock? But it’s so small! No way that’s a clock.”

“Take a look. Once you really look at it you won’t be able to deny it.”

Damian held the watch up for Mr. Yuu to examine. The vendor tried to grab hold of it but Damian pulled back before he could.

“Sorry, but I can’t let you take it until you’ve paid.”

“Fair enough.”

Thus, Mr. Yuu inspected the watch from a distance.

“Well it certainly looks like a miniature clock and the hands really are spinning, but is it accurate?”

“Of course it is. But let's test it out to put you at ease.”

Damian pointed down the block.

“There's a cafe with a clock down there. Ask someone to tell you the time from the clock inside the cafe.”

“Alright.” Mr. Yuu grunted. “Hey Al, can you tell me the time from inside the cafe?”

“Sure thing boss.” The kid responded from behind the counter.

Al began to leisurely walk towards the cafe.

“Hurry up boy!” Mr. Yuu screamed.

“Ok, ok!”

Al, now in a panic, hurried into the shop and exited it soon after.

“It’s 2:24 sir.” he reported.

“Alright, now check this out. What time does it say there?” Damian smirked triumphantly.

“2:24!” Mr. Yuu’s eyes lit up in surprise. “It really does work! How much are you willing to sell it for?”

“Hmm...How does three-hundred sound?”

“T-three-hundred?!?! That’s outrageous!”

“Hey, this is the only watch in existence. I’m not selling it for cheap.”

“But three-hundred dollars….I don’t know if it’s worth that much.”

“You’re right, it’s not. At least on its own. Buuuut, since this is the only watch in existence, you could make millions of dollars if you manage to recreate this and mass produce it, you know?”

“Millions? If it’s worth so much then why don’t you capitalize on it?”

“I need quick cash.” Damian flatly admitted.

“Err, alright. I’ll buy it for three-hundred if you include a manual on how to make it.”

“Sorry but I don’t know how to make it. You gotta figure that out yourself. So what’ll it be? Take a gamble on this innovative device or watch me walk away with your hopes of becoming filthy rich?”

“Tch. Fine. I’ll buy the damn thing.”

“Thank you for your patronage!”

And with that Damian was now short of a watch but had three-hundred dollars in return. Preparations were now complete and he could move on to the next stage of his plan.

******

On the dingy streets in the bad part of town, Damian hid behind the side of the block. Right around the corner was the street that would lead him to his potential savior. After about an hour of waiting, he heard the grunts of people presumably dragging something heavy. Damian peeked over the corner, confirming the grunting to be from the vest and bandana guys. Just like the previous timeline, they were dragging the hooded lady, who only pretended to be unconscious, by her arms. Damian hesitated at first, knowing that she was really on a mission to infiltrate the black market and to free the captured slaves, but held fast to his resolve. After they disappeared into the alleyway, Damian stealthy scurried over and took cover behind the side of the building that led into the alley. The plan was the same as before, smash the bandana guy over the head with a wooden board that was lying on a nearby dumpster and punch the vest guy in the face, using the confusion to run away.

[Here goes nothing.]

Damian charged down the alleyway at the kidnappers. He passed by the dumpster and snatched the discarded board.

The kidnappers detected Damian too late as he brought down the board on the bandana guy's head. A resounding CRACK sound echoed throughout the alleyway as the board split in half. The bandana guy went down in pain. Damian let go of the remaining board pieces he was holding on to and struck the vest guy square in the nose with a right hook, which produced another crack from his nose breaking. The two men let go of the woman in their pain, to which Damian grabbed her hand.

He led the way holding the woman's wrist, pulling her along. It didn't take long for the kidnappers to regain their senses.

"Get back here you bastard!" The vest guy yelled while clutching his nose.

Damian glanced behind him. The kidnappers were giving chase. All he had to do now was…

“Ah!” Damian cried as he deliberately tripped himself.

He, along with the lady, were now helpless on the ground. The two men were now on top of them. As predicted, the bandana guy reached into his pocket and revealed the knife that was hidden within.

"You're gonna pay for that little stunt you've pulled." He growled with deadly malice.

"Oi. We don't have to go that far." The vest guy protested.

"Move out of the way or I'll kill you too."

The bandana guy aggressively shoved the vest guy out of the way and stepped over Damian, raising his right arm equipped with the knife.

Damian remained on the ground, staring his attacker in his eyes. After all, there was nothing to fear.

[Alright, any moment now. She’ll make him incapable of having children ever again.]

The bandana guy brought down the knife.

[Hey, hey. Come on! I’m gonna die here!]

Damian’s eyes, filled with suspense, drifted towards the lady, who was still on the ground.

A second before the knife would have stabbed into Damian’s liver, the lady shoved her boot way up the bandana guy’s crotch. A howl of pain that could be heard for miles. As the bandana guy went down, holding his shattered crotch, the lady picked herself up with a pissed expression on her face.

"Ah, now you've done it kid. I can't hold myself back any longer."

[Man, that was super close. Couldn’t she have acted a bit faster?]

"D-don't get any closer!" The vest guy stammered as he revealed the knife he also had hidden.

The lady ignored the vest guy's demands and stepped towards him. The vest guy, desperate to survive, swung wildly at the lady. She effortlessly stopped the swing with her left hand, pulling him closer to absolutely clobber his face with her right fist. The vest guy went down hard with a few broken teeth at the least. The woman turned her attention to Damian.

However, to Damian’s dismay, he realized that she had yet to withdraw her aura of fury. She grabbed his sweater and lifted him into the air with both her arms. Thrusting his back to the brick wall, she got in close, leaving only a few inches between their faces. Being on the receiving end of her attack was terrifying. Her intense amber eyes seemed to be glowing in the dark alleyway, or rather they were. Her blessing was active and ready to use on command, what it did, Damian was unsure of but his gut told him that if she used it on him he would be even worse off than the poor bandana guy.

“Explain yourself or you’re dead.” She snarled.