Eron was still trying to absorb the strange new world around him when the air behind him shimmered. A ripple spread across the mossy ground, as if a curtain of glass was being pulled aside.
The moment it appeared, everything around him stopped.
The wind froze mid-whisper. Leaves hung unmoving in the air. A bird overhead halted mid-flap, its wings spread wide as though painted into the sky. Even the faint drifting sparkles of mist in the forest hung motionless, caught in place.
Eron's breath hitched. The world itself had stopped.
And then, a figure stepped through the ripple.
She looked like a girl no older than sixteen, her silver-white hair tied loosely over one shoulder. Her eyes were calm and unreadable, far older than her face. Her clothes seemed stitched from mist itself, flickering and shifting like smoke that couldn't decide what shape it wanted. She didn't touch the ground. Instead, she hovered a few inches above it, each step leaving a faint ring of light that pulsed outward before fading.
Eron staggered back. "Who… who are you?"
The girl tilted her head, studying him. Then her voice came, calm but firm: "I've been called many things. The one that fits best is this—" her lips curved faintly, "I am a Time Walker."
The words struck him as both absurd and undeniable.
She raised a hand as if to calm him. "Relax. I'm not here to hurt you."
Her eyes flicked toward his side. "Oh. You've got the moss?"
Her tone lightened, almost teasing. "Seriously? You picked that up? It's been clinging to you this whole time. I could sense the mana leaking out from another realm."
Eron frowned, confused. "The moss? You mean… that glowing stuff from the cave?"
She nodded. "Yep. Tunnel moss. Absorbs chronomagic like a sponge. Super rare. Super dense. Super unstable."
Then, almost casually, she added, "I mean… it's usually a snack."
Eron nearly choked. "Excuse me? A snack?"
She pulled a small pouch from her belt and opened it, showing a dried clump of moss inside. "Yup. I sprinkle it in tea sometimes. Helps with long shifts between timelines."
Eron's stomach twisted. "I… put that thing in my bag. I touched it."
She floated closer. The air around her carried a strange static charge that pressed against him like the edge of a dream. "You didn't eat it, so you're fine. But handling it directly let some of its energy seep into your body. Just enough for it to recognize you."
From her pouch she lifted a sealed vial, shimmering faintly in her hand.
"You want more? I've got plenty. But that one you picked up? It already chose you."
Eron frowned. "Chose me?"
"Yeah. When you touched it, some of its mana soaked into your body. Tunnel moss is clingy like that. You're basically its ride now."
She pointed lazily at his chest. "You'll start noticing things. Faster reflexes. Time stretching in tense moments. Visual hiccups. Like your brain's buffering reality. Weird at first, but you'll adjust."
Eron dragged a hand down his face. His mind spun. Time magic. Snack moss. Portals.
"This is insane," he muttered. "I was just hiking. Drinking instant coffee this morning… and now I'm carrying magical moss and time powers?"
She grinned faintly. "That's one way to put it."
But then her expression shifted, her tone turning serious. "And here's the important part. That moss you took? It carries enough charge to open a Time Pocket."
Eron blinked. "A what?"
"A pocket outside the normal flow of time. One-time use. Inside, twenty years can pass while only a second moves out here."
Eron's eyes widened. "Wait… you're saying the outside world would just… stop?"
She nodded. "Exactly. One second here. Twenty years in there. A pocket of eternity in your hand. Good for training. Or hiding. Or just napping through an apocalypse."
Eron swallowed hard. An entire lifetime slipping by in a blink—the thought made his chest tighten.
She hovered closer, her presence brushing against him like static in the air. "Don't worry. You won't trigger it by accident. You'll know when the time comes. Just… don't waste it."
The ripple of her portal flickered behind her, light bending as though waiting to close.
"Anyway," she said lightly, almost dismissive, "enjoy your new world. Try not to break it."
She turned toward the portal, then paused, glancing back over her shoulder.
"I'll visit again. Probably when you least expect it."
Her lips curved into a faint smile. She hesitated as if weighing something, then shook her head.
"Eh. You'll figure it out."
She winked once, then stepped into the light.
The instant her body vanished, time snapped back.
The bird above finished its wingbeat. The leaves drifted down. The air stirred again. The forest exhaled.
Eron stood frozen, the silence pressing in once more.
Slowly, he looked down at his bag—at the pouch where the moss rested, quiet and unassuming.
"Snack moss. Time distortion. Time Pockets… What the hell is happening to me…"
He let out a sharp breath, rubbed his face with both hands, then looked up through the canopy at the twin suns above.
He was alone again.
But in his body, he felt it.
When he shifted his weight, his shadow seemed to lag half a beat before catching up. His next step landed sharper, quicker, like the ground hadn't braced for him in time.
Time had already begun to bend around him.