The price for bending time wasn't low. Leon was aware that Undine was right; the first option wouldn't actually solve anything. As for the second option, it was impossible for many reasons. Since he would lose his memories, he would eventually forget his goal. Since he would lose his mana, he also would lose the power to bend time. Most likely, he also would lose his spirits.
Leon also had some ideas, but none of those would actually help him. There was one thing he could try, but it would be not easy, and it would take a while before Leon could confirm if that were possible or not.
"I will think about time travel later," Leon declared. "Right now, I have to find a way to enter the temple."
Leon created a Checkpoint, and after using Transfer for a while, he couldn't feel the presence of his Checkpoint anymore. It was out of range, so it became clear that Leon was more than thirty kilometers away from it.
It wasn't a good idea, but Leon decided to attack the floor of the temple. Maybe some tremors would make stop whatever was messing with Leon's senses or perhaps halt the caster of the spell. Leon attacked the floor using an Earth Bullet, but he didn't even scratch it.
"Well... it is a weak spell, so it can't be helped," Leon frowned.
Without hesitation, Leon fired several Magma Spears in quick succession... but again, no scratches. Although Leon felt the sound of the impact, the magic projectiles quickly disappeared once it touched the blocks of earth. That wasn't some piece of ordinary floor... it looked like the floor, and everything related to that temple had been made using some material that had high magic resistance. Leon tried to use Mana Absorption, but there was no response.
"Things are starting to get complicated..." Leon rubbed his chin. "Gnome, can you give me a hand?"
"Of course!" The gnome said after Leon materialized him.
Without wasting time, Gnome began his work and then tried to change the environment using earth magic just to create some landmarks in order to make Leon feel less lost. However, even Gnome's magic disappeared just after a few seconds... even though it hadn't been used to damage anything. The temple repelled and canceled most types of magic.
"Well, thanks for the help, Gnome," Leon said and then made the spirit return.
Leon could use Mana Dominion and Transfer, so the problem wasn't that bad. By using Haste and Electric Armor, Leon started to run toward the entrance of the tremble. He also activated Regeneration to recover from the wounds such high-speed movement was causing, but eventually, he had to stop and cancel his spells.
Congratulations! The skill Fire Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Electric Armor has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Thunder Resistance has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Leon's skin was burning, and he received some notifications again, so it became even more evident that he was moving. He couldn't feel his body getting heavier, and he also could feel his mana, but there was a chance that Leon was unconscious or something and everything around him was just a massive illusion. However, that was hard to accept. Ilyana, without a doubt sent him to a place where he could find a fragment of the spirit of time... but if just a fragment had that much power, he couldn't even imagine how powerful was the original spirit. Leon imagined that the original spirits were god-like existences, but even that was a bit too much.
"I'm getting tired of this..." Leon said.
To make things more efficient, Leon decided to run only using Haste and use the remaining mana to recover his stamina. By doing that, he would manage to increase stamina to some extent while training some of his physical skills like Dash. However, after a few hours, Leon still couldn't see any difference or change around himself.
Congratulations! Your stamina has increased by one point.
Congratulations! Your Endurance has increased by one point.
Congratulations! The skill Dash has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Stamina Restoration has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Despite being in a race against time, Leon endured that situation for what seemed to be days. He received those notifications time and time again, but Leon ignored it. If Leon had made some calculations previously, he would have noticed that he had run for ten days straight in an inhuman speed, but the only noticed that something was off when the muscles of his legs tore apart. Leon immediately used Heal, and his legs returned to its previous shape. However, his body was at its limit... he didn't eat anything in several days. So, Leon's body was like the time when he had lost a lot of blood... skin, and bones.
"You have to rest," Celsius said. "At this rate, you will only kill yourself and won't find the spirit of the time."
"Thank you for your concern," Leon said. "But after running for so long, I'm pretty sure the test is something along those lines... the spirit of time won't receive me unless I try to reach it and almost kill myself while I'm at it. Since that is probably the case, I just have to speed up that process."
"It surprises me how much your illogical words sometimes makes so much sense," Volt said.
"Thanks, I think that is one of the few talents I have," Leon forced a smile.
In the end, Leon did well in investing some points in willpower. Despite acting like that, he was at his limit. Although somehow he managed to convince his spirits of that, Leon himself didn't know if that was actually the real way to reach Sekundez's fragment.