(Black Serpents Guild Library, Section Zeta-9 – The Chrono Lock Archives)
*SWAP*
Leo flipped the page.
The ominous warning on the first page faded behind him as he turned to the next sheet, only to find the beginning of a memoir-style log.
The handwriting was elegant yet firm, the ink slightly smudged by time, as a bold heading was etched across the top of the page:
"Field Log, penned by Captain Aelric Vonn"
Beneath it, a carefully written subtitle:
Day 0: Mission Brief
"Our squad has been deployed under classified directive 47-XJ.
Our objective is to track and eliminate Subject D, a wanted war criminal who fled into a Time-Stilled World via an unstable vortex tear in the Kael Vortex region.
Entry has been authorized for seven personnel: five assassin's from the cult under my command and one high-sensitivity empath-class prisoner, who has been promised conditional freedom in exchange for guiding us to the fugitive.
The target is presumed armed, mutated, and possibly insane. We enter at 0500 hours, and expect to retrieve the body within ten days of entering, or roughly within 3 hours of time passage in reality."
---
Day 1
The moment we cross the portal threshold, I can feel the subtle change in pressure, like stepping into a sealed dome at high altitude, though there is no discomfort – only difference.
The world on the other side is caught in an eternal dusk, bathed in a strange glow between sunset and true night.
There is no true night here, nor there is day, as the darkest I've seen the environment get is about as dark as we experience just after sunset, while the lightest, is just before sunset, as the modulation is very low.
There is no wind.
Not even the gentlest rustle of a breeze.
The air here remains still and warm, unnaturally consistent, as if the entire world has no weather changes at all.
That being said, within the bounds of this pocket world, time flows normally for us, but all external communication ceases the moment we enter.
No matter what method is used, it's impossible to contact the outside world once inside, which makes it hard to call for help or evacuation in case something goes wrong.
Spells cast here seem to resonate with unnatural clarity.
On average, the squad reports an estimated 15 to 20 percent increase in spell output and clarity of control.
As casting spells in this world makes us feel stronger— and deceptively so.
The ground here is firm, gravity matches standard planetary regulation, and nothing at first glance feels hostile. But that illusion of calm is what worries me most.
---
Day 2
The squad is in good spirits. Our supply of purified mana stones is holding up. No one's drawing from the world's ambient mana yet, save for the prisoner, who lacks any personal reserves.
He has been quietly tapping into the local environment to maintain his abilities, though I have begun to observe something unusual.
He appears... strained. His eyes are bloodshot despite resting the same hours as the rest of us. His skin has grown clammy, his movements slightly delayed, as if his body is waging a silent battle against something we cannot see.
He insists he feels fine, but I know the signs of exhaustion when I see them, and this looks like something more than just fatigue.
It is as though his mind is slipping, fraying slowly with each breath of the air he draws and each trickle of mana he absorbs.
---
Day 7
Tension has set in.
The entire squad now admits a lingering unease. The shadows seem longer than they should be. There are no stars, no moon, no celestial markers in the sky, and yet we always feel watched. Our prisoner has begun to act increasingly erratic—scratching at his arms, mumbling nonsense in languages I'm certain he never knew.
He laughs at odd times, sobs when eating, and stares too long into empty spaces.
The squad wants me to sedate him, but he is still our only link to the target.
Still, I am noting a worrying trend: the longer one relies on this world's mana, the more unhinged their behavior becomes.
The effects are not sudden but rather a slow, corrosive slide into delirium. Even now, I dread what might come next.
---
Day 14
We have put him down.
It brings me no pleasure to write this, but the prisoner had to be neutralized. He attacked team member Darrin during the night shift, lunging without a weapon but with a manic ferocity that ignored all logic.
Even after Darrin severed his right arm at the elbow, he didn't scream—he laughed.
He fought like an animal, biting and clawing, his eyes wide with bliss as if possessed by something unspeakable.
After securing the camp, we disposed of the body far from our main perimeter. No one spoke during the burial. We are all shaken.
—---
Day 17
We have started to track the target on our own, and progress has stalled. However, we have discovered something more worrying.
The fauna and beasts found in this world do not behave in accordance with nature we find throughout the rest of the normal universe.
Predators ignore prey if the prey appears weak, but anything showing strength, confidence, or power draws their attention.
It is as though this realm punishes ambition.
The local plant life siphons mana slowly, draining it during sleep, as if the soil itself resents intruders.
And although the water here appears fresh and clean, those who taste it fall violently ill within hours.
We now treat even clear lakes as traps.
---
Day 20
We finally find him.
The fugitive, Subject D, is located in a sunken grove littered with bones and echoing whispers that don't match any voice in our group.
He looks... unrecognizable. Emaciated, crawling on all fours, eyes pitch black with glowing cracks tracing his veins like burning rivers beneath the skin.
He speaks, but it's as if something else is speaking through him. He claims he's been here for over a year, though the distortion of time makes that impossible to confirm. Whatever humanity was left in him is gone. His combat ability is... terrifying. He uses techniques we've never seen before, fighting like a beast but with strategy, timing, and malice.
We subdue him eventually, though it costs us two men.
---
Day 22
Our mana stones have begun to turn.
Even sealed in spatial rings or carried close to our bodies, they are now unusable. Their energy has soured, humming with a frequency that burns rather than heals. It appears that 22 days is the threshold—after which, any pure mana supply becomes corrupted simply by being in this world.
Without proper detoxification techniques, drawing from them now is suicide.
---
Day 25
The squad is no longer a squad.
Arguments erupt over nothing.
Accusations of sabotage, betrayal, and madness fly like daggers, and I cannot calm them.
They are not just paranoid—they are unraveling. I hear footsteps in the night when no one is moving, see glimmers in mirrors that don't belong to us. The world itself is whispering now, testing our sanity.
And so, on this day, I record that I am the last.
---
Day 30
I emerge.
Only eight hours have passed in the real world. Eight hours. And yet, I feel the weight of eight years.
The head of Subject D rests in my pack, but it brings me no comfort. I return home not as a hero, but as a husk. I can no longer hear silence without expecting screams.
---
Three Years Later
If you are reading this and considering taking on a mission in a time stilled world, I beg you: turn back.
If you have the luxury of choosing not to enter a Time-Stilled World, don't. But if you must, then let my experience guide your survival.
1. Carry ten times the food, water, and medicine you think you need.
2. Trust no plant, no beast, no breeze.
3. Travel only with equals squad members. Never with superiors or stronger tiered warriors, as they will draw stronger beast opponents.
4. Do not light fires in the world to cook or for light.
5. Do not believe anything that speaks to you in your own voice.
6. Never absorb local mana.
7. Treat 22 days as your hard limit with standard mana stones. 44 days with medium grade stones and 88 days with high grade stones, but never spend more than 100 days in that world.
8. Do not venture too deep inside the world, stay close to the exit, as the terrain inside shifts fast and your mind starts playing tricks on you the longer you stay within.