Chapter 13: Can a Rooster Be Insane? Of Course It Can!

  At first, I was utterly confused. There had been no negative backlash from the time spell—or so I'd thought until being plunged into the river. Now I understood the price I'd paid.

  I'd lost my luck! Hopefully temporarily, but who could predict such things? Luck was notoriously fickle...

  I swam desperately when suddenly—something yanked me under. A fish. A massive crimson fish with jaws like a demon's maw.

  "What kind of creature is this?! Fish or shark?! Get that disgusting gaze away from me, devil! I didn't come all this way to become fish breakfast!"

  I kicked its head with my free leg, sending it spinning away—only for it to return with vengeance.

  "In this state, time travel is impossible unless... Wait! Heh, I can use this fish."

  As it lunged, I pressed my palm to its scaly forehead:

  "Be mine, O mindless fool! O wretched beast!

  Your body mine, your soul mine, your mind mine!

  Become my unquestioning slave, O miserable creature!"

  "Mind Slave!"

  The fish shuddered violently. Its predatory glare transformed into dopey devotion. Where it once saw prey, it now saw its rightful master.

  The mana cost varied—the Time Guest spell consumed 1% of my reserves, while simpler spells like Mind Veil were negligible. But Mind Slave was High Magic, and all High Magic carried risks.

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  Fortunately, the backlash was minimal when enslaving simple creatures. There was just one problem...

  My stolen luck had exacted its toll. The minor backlash erased my purpose for entering the river.

  "I... why am I here? I came to the River of Time... but why? Why can't I remember?"

  The fish happily embraced me, offering itself as a mount. As we dove deeper, I scanned the temporal currents desperately.

  "Damn these spell side effects! Of all times to forget something so crucial! I never expected bad luck to be this potent..."

  Luck was a terrifying force that bowed only to those with true Destiny. Unpredictable where Destiny was absolute.

  Perhaps... I could use this opportunity to develop new High Magic based on Luck and Destiny?

  My musings were interrupted by a thunderous crowing.

  Before me loomed a rooster. Not just any rooster—a monstrous, rainbow-plumed fiend with a blood-red comb, talons the size of human arms, and a gleaming golden beak.

  "You've got to be joking... A giant rooster in a time river?!"

  The beast's murderous gaze locked onto me. Its beak snapped ominously as it charged—on foot. Unlike me, native creatures could move freely here.

  "Swim! Opposite direction! NOW!" I commanded my fish.

  Though smaller, my mount was thankfully swift. Yet the rooster's speed turned my already pale complexion ghostly white.

  This bastard means to kill me! Damn it all—

  Gritting nonexistent teeth, I incanted:

  "May no peer catch my ally in these waters,

  May my foes never match his speed,

  May the waves embrace him as their beloved."

  "Ocean's Darling!"

  The speed-boosting High Magic consumed 100,000 mana units. Through experimentation, I'd learned that mastering spells reduced their backlash—but my current luck had other plans.

  My left arm went numb from the backlash.

  Damn this cursed misfortune!

  The enhanced fish shot forward, leaving the rooster behind—until an enraged crow echoed through the temporal flow. The insane bird had doubled its speed!

  "You stubborn bastard! I'll carve you into pieces and feed you to my fish!"

  Just as the rooster closed in, a colossal white serpent materialized from nowhere. It coiled around the shrieking bird, dragging it into the abyss.

  My fish and I stared at where it vanished.

  This place is a madhouse! I need to leave—

  Then I saw it through the currents: an explosion. The memory I'd sought.

  "I... I found it! I'm going home!"