Screech…

  A faint scraping sound suddenly echoed through the room.

  Jax， pulled from his thoughts， narrowed his eyes toward the sound. The window.

  His window was opening on its own.

  He wasn’t imagining it. There was no one outside， no wind. But the window slid open slowly， as if an invisible hand had pushed it aside.

  Jax’s face didn’t change. He stayed lying in bed， watching the window calmly.

  Faced with the supernatural sight， he didn’t even reach for the Breath of Bone on his pillow. He knew it wouldn’t help.

  He waited silently. At the first hint of danger， Time Stop would activate instantly.

  Thirty seconds passed. A yellowed sheet of paper drifted through the window， floating straight toward him， as if carried by no wind at all.

  It hovered in front of Jax， and stopped.

  Written on it in blood-red letters:

  [Midnight tonight. Come to the woods north of town alone. Tell no one. Your life depends on it.]

  “Fuck! Who the hell do you think you’re scaring?!”

  The floating paper， the blood-red writing— the eerie sight didn’t scare Jax at all. It just woke the feral rage in him.

  With three minutes and fifty seconds of stored Time Stop， he’d slap a god across the face if it showed up. Let alone this.

  Time Stop!

  Buzz!

  The great golden clock rose from beneath Jax， freezing the flow of time with the authority of a god’s decree.

  He shot out of bed， grabbed the Breath of Bone， and leaped through the window.

  Fierce defiance burned in his dark eyes.

  “Sneaking around in the middle of the night with a piece of paper to scare me? Ghost or human， I’m gonna squeeze your balls until they pop， you spineless little shit!”

  Outside the window， Jax scanned the area with his gun raised. He spotted a hunched figure hiding in the corner of the wall， its bandaged right hand raised high， thumb and forefinger pinching at thin air， as if holding an invisible sheet of paper.

  Well， well. There’s the little bastard.

  He charged straight over. As he got closer， the moonlight revealed the figure’s face. Oh， this was someone he knew.

  Ryker the Sleight of Hand.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Jax had heard what happened to Ryker. Viper had crushed his right hand and left him to die.

  Yet here he was， in the middle of the night.

  Awakened?

  The word popped into Jax’s head. He’d never met an Awakened， but he’d heard the stories. Compared to genetically modified warriors and cyborgs， the Awakened were far rarer and more mysterious.

  Legends said they had all kinds of strange， wondrous abilities. And what Ryker was doing right now fit that description perfectly.

  He guessed Ryker’s power was tied to his right hand. The way he was hunched there， holding his hand up， was too weird. To test his theory， Jax reached out along the line of Ryker’s hand. He found it instantly.

  Stretching from Ryker’s right hand was an invisible arm， hard as steel， nearly three meters long.

  Everything clicked into place. Ryker had opened the window with the invisible arm， and held the paper with it too. That’s why it had floated in midair.

  Oh， so you thought you’d mess with me， huh?

  Time resumes!

  Ryker rubbed his sore right hand with his left， muttering to himself:“The kid must’ve read it by now. Why isn’t he making a sound? He should’ve jumped out of bed scared shitless. Did he fall asleep?”

  Suddenly， a cold voice spoke right behind him.

  “I’m not asleep. But you will be soon. Permanently.”

  Click.

  The sound of a bullet sliding into the chamber. The cold barrel of a gun pressed against the back of Ryker’s skull.

  Ryker’s body went rigid instantly， his face draining of color.“Jax?!”

  “Don’t move. If you lower that right hand even an inch， I swear you won’t see the sun rise.”

  Ryker went stiffer still， his half-lowered right hand freezing in midair. His heart sank. Shit. The kid figured out my power.

  He’d planned to use the invisible arm to subdue Jax before he could react. Even with a Forbidden Artifact， he was sure the kid wouldn’t see an invisible attack coming. But Jax had seen right through him.

  “You… you weren’t asleep?” Ryker spoke， stalling for time while he scrambled for a plan.

  “Heh.” Jax’s cold laugh came from behind him.“You never get up to piss in the middle of the night?”

  Ryker didn’t believe a word of it. Before he’d opened the window， he’d peeked inside. Jax had been lying in bed. There was no way he’d just gotten up to use the bathroom.

  No. The second the window had opened， Jax had leaped out of the house without a second of hesitation， snuck around behind him while he was holding the paper， and lined up the shot.

  That’s why there’d been no reaction from inside the room. He’d already left.

  Shit. This was nothing like he’d planned. How was this kid’s brain so different from a normal person’s?

  A normal person sees a window open on its own， they freeze. They try to figure out what’s going on.

  Who the hell sees something weird and immediately charges outside with a gun in the middle of the night? Aren’t you scared of ghosts?

  “Ryker… wait， no. Should I call you Lefty now?” Jax tapped the barrel of the gun lightly against Ryker’s skull.

  The repeated touch of the cold metal made Ryker’s skin crawl. He spoke quickly:“Jax， I didn’t mean any harm. I just have something important to talk to you about.”

  “Call me Vice Leader Jax.” Jax kicked him hard in the ass， cutting him off.

  Ryker froze， a flash of anger crossing his face. But he quickly corrected himself:“Vice Leader Jax. I really didn’t mean any harm. I just have a business proposition for you.”

  “Oh?” A dangerous smirk tugged at Jax’s lips.“Funny thing is， I didn’t come here for business. I came here to hurt you.

  You know what I hate most in this world? People wasting my time. Your little stunt just cost me ten precious seconds of my life. Ten seconds! How many ten seconds do you get in a lifetime?!”

  Ryker had no idea Jax was talking about his Time Stop. He thought he just meant the time it took to walk outside.

  He was silent for a moment， then spoke carefully:“Assuming a person lives to sixty， there are about 189，216，000 ten-second intervals in a lifetime.”

  “You little shit!”

  Bang!

  Jax kicked him in the ass again， nearly sending him face-first into the dirt.

  “Oh， so you’re a math genius now? I couldn’t figure that out on my own? I needed you to tell me?”

  Jax could do the math， of course. He just would’ve needed a piece of paper and a pencil.

  “You’ve got three seconds to give me a reason not to shoot you， Ryker.”

  Ryker blurted out:“I’m here to help you!”

  “You? You’re not worth the effort.”

  “I’m Awakened!”

  Bang!

  Another kick.

  Jax’s angry voice rang out:“What are you bragging about? Being Awakened makes you special?!”