...John’s PoV…

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

I’d never would’ve thought that the ancient literature class I took for extra credits would ever serve a purpose. Yet here we are, applying lessons from Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’ at two in the morning to fight a family of murderous lizard people.

Now that’s a sentence I never thought I would say.

A tired smile creeps onto my face as I lean back, not paying attention to the constant Timed Rewinds happening every five seconds. I call it ‘Flash Sleeping’; it’s my latest attempt at minimizing the amount of time I waste when asleep.

Well, I call it sleeping, but it’s more like ‘not thinking’ than real sleep since I can’t really feel physical fatigue anymore.

It all started a week ago. I knew I had more and more trouble sleeping lately, but I thought it was just trauma-induced insomnia so I had hoped it would get better with time.

Spoilers! It didn’t.

I knew something was wrong when I realized I’ve been staring at my bedroom’s ceiling for the past two hours. I tried everything from counting sheep to listening to lullabies to even downing an entire bottle of sleep medication. I just shrugged it off after everything failed since I thought it was just an evolution of my mysterious regeneration.

At first, not sleeping seemed all fine and dandy, but I quickly discovered that my immunity to tiredness only extended to my physical body and not my mind.

I learned about this little quirk of my ability when I went through seventy hours without rest. That's when I noticed some very odd and nonsensical behavior.

In the beginning, I thought it was just temporary, but I was forced to recognize that my mental degeneration became increasingly evident the more I stayed awake. And I knew I had to do something when I realized that I was dancing on my bed while waving my gun around and shouting profanities at a pile of books.

So I had to go to sleep, but my body didn’t want to, and I couldn’t use sleeping drugs since my power disintegrated the pills as soon as I swallowed them. That’s when I tried just lying down and closing my eyes for a few hours.

It was the most boring thing I ever did, and the most infuriating thing is that it worked.

But this routine, while fine for a day or two, got old very quickly. I could feel my sanity slipping with each of my ‘sessions’ so I tried to make it more bearable by listening to music or watching TV. Sadly, it didn’t work as expected, and I could only prolong my periods of ‘being awake’ while I was lying down. I then moved on to less active forms of distractions, and I did feel slightly rested. However, it felt like I would need a considerable amount of time to achieve what I could in a fraction of the time from lying down without doing anything else.

At this point, I was combing through anything I could find on the HiddenNet, but I either found spells that I couldn’t use or drugs that would have no effect on me. I was about to give up on more reasonable options and was seriously considering buying a million Credits worth of High-grade tranquilizer. My plan was to constantly inject it into my bloodstream and enjoy the effects in the brief seconds before my regeneration kicked in.

I’ll have to admit, it wasn’t my best plan.

But then I stumbled upon sensory deprivation tanks, and it felt like God had descended and offered me an answer. A sensory deprivation tank is a man-sized tub filled with salt-water. The tank is pitch-black and blocks off external sounds and vibrations from reaching the person inside.

This sounded perfect, so I bought one at the Bazaar and teleported it into an empty room. It was also surprisingly cheap despite choosing a high-grade luxury model with tons of settings and options that I totally won’t only use once and then immediately forget about afterwards.

But I guess not paying the interdimensional shipping fee helps a ton in that regard.

Setting the tank up only took a few minutes, so I entered the large white egg-shaped contraption that closed once I laid into the slimy liquid beneath me. According to the catalog, this liquid was supposed to be self-cleaning and it would not get the user wet.

I closed my eyes and just motionlessly laid there.

I lasted ten whole minutes before jumping out. Nothing could’ve prepared me for that, that feeling of… nothingness. Only being able to hear your own heartbeat is beyond maddening, and I can only wonder why people would pay to submit themselves to such torture.

Now I had another problem, I have a big, useless sensory deprivation tank taking up space for nothing. I was about to Rewind to undo the purchase when I realized something obvious.

I could use the Rewinder to ‘sleep’! Or, to be more specific, I could use the brief instant of complete nothingness during a Rewind to clear my head even further.

And that’s the reason why I’m silently reviewing my research while lying in a giant egg and constantly rewinding time. Who could’ve predicted that time travel was such a good sleeping aid? Using the Rewinder allows me to reduce my sleeping time to thirty minutes of relative time every two days.

I sigh and interrupt the Rewinds before getting out of the tank, the slimy substance sloshes when I leave and starts to move on its own to clean the device.

It won’t have to do much; I’ve only been in there for five ’real’ seconds at most.

But let’s not waste time because I need to get back to my research. I’ve been looking into the Scalebound and ways to prevent spellcasting for the last four days, and even now I’m still struggling to find any good answers to my questions.

A sigh escapes my mouth as I sit down on my bed and turn on my Interdimensional Phone, preparing myself mentally for two entire days of reading. So far I've learned a few things, like the Scalebound being a very ancient family of Dragonewts and a vague history of their reign.

But for some reason, I can't find anything about when they got here. Does that mean they were always here? Or maybe that information is being suppressed.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the Enforcers were rewriting history for their own gain.

The Enforcers are reaching a new low every time I learn more and more about them... It seems like every single family is at the very least rotten to the core, and Riley's family is no exception.

At first, I held neutral feelings about the Wolfheart Matriarch. But being sentenced to death for saving people that they should be saving in the first place, somewhat changed my opinion of them. And let’s not talk about the squad of assassins I had obliterated in my backyard. It boggles my mind; they were from a Family openly hostile to them, so how could they move into the Wolfheart’s territory without encountering any resistance?

I was already pissed off, but the info I found yesterday when I had finally looked into what happened with Riley’s mother only made it even worse.

Turns out that bitch just outright used a torture spell on me, and an insanely strong one too. According to the information I found most people would only last between five to ten seconds, after that the pain would become too excruciating, and they would be ejected from the spell.

But I've been under that spell for two whole minutes at the very least.

I guess I have my mental protection ring to thank for not feeling the effects of the spell, which is described as “having thousands of sharp blades rampaging into your body.” No wonder the fucking thing cracked.

Now, I always make sure to keep a ring on my finger and a spare one in my pocket just in case the first one fails.

And, as if that wasn’t enough, I learned that she also forbade Riley and Steve to ever see me again when I sent a text to the former to see if we could hang out.

She tortures me, and then she takes my only friends away from me… For fuck’s sake, will this woman die if she doesn’t act like an evil bitch for more than ten seconds?!

I take a deep breath to calm the anger welling up in my stomach and force myself to focus on my research instead. So far I’m having mixed results.

I guess I should stop looking into Dragonewts; my search engine is beginning to show me questionable suggestions…

So let’s focus on interrupting spells instead. Every denizen of the Hidden World I had encountered all used fearsome spells to fight, and that's a big problem for me who cannot use mana at all. But relying on spells to attack has a glaring weakness. Wouldn't the person who invented a device to disrupt them be undefeatable?

Of course not, since a good portion of the Hidden World denizens are strong enough to punch through a concrete wall without any magical assistance. But something like a mana disrupting device would still be a game changer for someone like me.

However, looking into mana disruption devices only shows me results about mana-related natural disasters, there’s not a single mention of what I’m looking for.

It’s weird that I can’t find anything at all. Normally there would at least be vague experiments or theories shared in forums, but there’s absolutely nothing.

Something’s fishy here, and I refuse to believe that I'm the first person in an infinite amount of universes to have this idea.

Maybe it’s the Enforcers? Although suppressing knowledge on a multi-universal scale seems a tad out of their reach.

A small, silver-armed Goblin comes to my mind. I have a feeling that Krognar might have some history with the Enforcers, so he might know something that he isn’t supposed to.

I get dressed and check my equipment one last time: I have my Portal Gun and my Field Pistol hanging to my sides while my Shield Glove is fastened to my left arm. I re-adjust the small cable running from the middle of my left palm to the phone strapped to my upper arm, and I Rewind a few seconds to make sure it works properly.

I glance at the full-size mirror in front of me and smirk. I look like a soldier, with my chest rig and all my magazine pouches. Normal people would look at me funny if I went out like this, but my appearance isn't even worth a glance in the Bazaar.

Memories of the most… eye-catching species I sometimes see during my trips to the Bazaar come to my mind.

Yeah, I can’t compare to those guys. There’s no way a guy wearing some military equipment is more surprising than a sentient tree branch who asks for directions.

I remember this particular encounter that happened back when I bought my first barrier. The poor guy couldn't find the gate back to his homeworld, and he didn't have a map. So I helped him out with my phone, and he was pretty impressed with it. He even said that it gave him an idea because their current way of mapping things out was to use a big stone tablet.

I could see how lugging a big rock around could be unwieldy for a species with literal twigs for arms.

But now’s not the time for reminiscing, so I pull out my Portal Gun from its holster and point its muzzle at my feet. I press the trigger and immediately sink into the portal only to emerge in front of the desolate shop in the next instant.

The Goblin notices me the moment I enter the building, and he greets me with a smile revealing his yellowing teeth.

“Welcome! What do you need?” the shopkeeper asks in a jovial tone.

“You see, I’m looking for information.” I lean against the counter, “Information that might be hard to obtain outside of the Shards.”

The Goblin’s smile disappears, “And what makes you think I have this information, and if I’m even going to give it to you?”

“I’m not asking to give it to me for free. You’ll just have to name your price.” I slap my credit card on the counter.

Yeah, right. I'll just Rewind if he gives me the information.

A spark of greed flashes into his eyes while tension leaves his body.

“Now you’re talking in a language I can understand.” He jumps from his chair and indicates a door behind him.

I follow the small creature and a small orb lights up as soon as he steps into the dusty room. The room has no windows, and it's only populated with a small round table along with two old wooden chairs.

He sits on one of the chairs and twirls his fingers in the air, causing the walls to rumble.

Fuck! Is it a trap?!

Large circles of light come to life and pieces of the wall shift and rotate in place, causing even more glyphs to appear in the air. I reach for my gun just as the Goblin snaps his fingers, causing the entire construct to grind to a halt.

“And now we can talk without anyone snooping on us, so please have a seat.” I release my grip on my weapon and sit in front of the shopkeeper.

Krognar leans back and examines me from head to toes, “Now what could a young lad like you want from me?”

“You see, I was wondering if you knew anything about spell disruption, and-”

The Goblin’s eyes open wide, and he jumps back before I can finish my sentence. A piece of his metallic arm rotate and jolts of orange energy course over the artificial limb. He raises his hand towards me, and I don’t have the time to react before the energy converges into the tip of a large needle that emerged from the middle of his palm.

“I fucking knew it! You’re working for those bastards!” he shouts before firing the ball of condensed lightning towards me.

What the fuck?!

I grit my teeth and jump to the side, but I’m not fast enough to avoid the projectile completely so it grazes my shield. A shiver goes down my spine when the chair I was sitting on just a second ago burst into flame and disintegrates.

What the fuck is this?! There’s not even ash left!

“Don’t fucking move!” the Goblin screeches while charging another shot.

Looks like this fucking arm can’t fire quickly, now’s my chance!

I roll to the side and fire two bullets into the crazed shopkeeper. The first projectile explodes against an orange barrier that appears out of thin air before shattering under the impact. The Goblin’s expression changes to one of panic when the second bullet enters his abdomen, and he explodes into a rain of blood in the next moment.

“Holy shit…That was intense.”

I get up and glance at the mangled body. Why did he attack as soon as I mentioned spell disruption? But his reaction at least confirms that there’s something weird with spell disruption.

But Krognar definitely knew something about it, or he wouldn't have reacted that way. This means I need him alive, so I must find a way to make him talk without coming across as a spy.

I take out my phone and Rewind to the beginning of our meeting, the world shifts as soon as I send the message.

"Now what could a young lad like you want from me?" he asks in earnest.

“Are you sure we can talk properly? What I want to talk about could get me killed if my words enter the wrong ears.”

A spark of interest light up in the Goblin’s eye, and he leans forward, “Don’t worry about it, the wards around this building can easily endure anything short of a dimensional collapse. So no eavesdropping spells can reach this room.”

So dimensional collapses are things that can happen? Then it’s a good thing that my Rewinder didn’t trigger one…

“So boy, are you going to talk anytime soon? I have a shop to run you know.”

I nod, “Of course, of course. But first I want your guarantee that you won’t try to kill me as soon as I open my mouth.”

He narrows his eyes, looking at me with renewed interest, “That’s a weird request… But I can’t say that I’m not intrigued. So you have my word that I won’t do anything.”

Well, let’s see how much his word is worth.

“You see, I have some disagreement with certain people and-”

“Get to the point,” Krognar interrupts.

“All right, then I was wondering if you knew anything about spell disruption.”

A heavy silence falls on the room, and the Goblin stares at me with narrowed eyes. My eyes are fixated on his metal arm while my hand slowly inches towards my gun; I'm ready to pull it out if the shopkeeper snaps.

“Tch…” He slams his regular fist on the table. “Fine, I gave you my word, and I’m not going back on it. But you better be honest with me boy, otherwise, I'm burning you to a crisp. Got it?”

I nod, and he pulls out a small brass square with a polished piece of amber embedded in its center out of a secret drawer hidden under the table.

He places the device on the table and activates it, causing the table to rumble.”So, are you working for the Enforcers, or anyone related to them?”

“No.” He focuses his attention on the brass square for a few seconds, but it doesn’t react at all.

I hope it’s a good sign.

A long second pass before the shopkeeper focuses his piercing gaze on me, "All right, I'll believe you. After all, you don't seem capable enough to fool this lie detector…"

I ignore the insult and let him continue, “But you know what you’re asking, right? If anyone finds out that you’re looking into spell disruption then you’ll become a priority target for all the Enforcers of your universe.”

My eyes bulge at the revelation, what was so special about spell jamming that could warrant such a level of aggression?!

“I can tell that you didn’t know. So, do you still want to continue despite knowing that?”

I’m not so sure anymore… I already have my plate full with one family of Enforcers wanting me dead. And I can’t possibly fight against the entire universe. I could just let this whole thing go and fight like I always did, with countless Rewinds…

No, I can’t do that. I’ve been lucky so far, but I only won against the Black Claws because I had a large stockpile of unstable artifacts. A stockpile that I don’t have now, and even then... I knew exactly when and where they would appear. I doubt I could pull a stunt like that in a normal combat situation.

I also know that I'm going to face the Scalebound Patriarch at some point. And there's no way he's weaker than the assassins he sent. Thinking about that battle makes me shiver. Those assassins were already strong enough to suppress me with a single glance, so who knows what the Patriarch could do?

It’s obvious that if I had to fight him right now, then I’ll lose no matter the number of Rewinds. The only way I can survive against opponents of this caliber is with a spell jammer, and even then my chances of coming out victorious are slim.

I steel my resolve and look directly into Krognar’s eyes; I’m already hiding the Rewinder, and that’s arguably a bigger secret.

So what’s the worst that could happen?