14 Chapter 14: Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Previously, Tanya woke up in the infirmary while Ray attempted to hold a conversation with her to gauge if she still needed some 'adjustment' but he soon found it unnecessary.

Tanya now sees him as a target of her affection, weirdly enough because he sort of tweaked her to be overwhelmed with sisterly love and will never have any rebellious thoughts. Somehow, something went wrong with the 'adjustment' due to my lack of proficiency in Soul Manipulation and messed up slightly with her seeing me as her sole love interest. It works I guess considering it could go far worse than this.

I wouldn't dare to try another 'adjustment' because trying to perform the magical equivalent of complex surgery procedures on a soul without specific tools like using a kitchen knife instead of scalpels.

After that, our life had been in relative peace. No urgent mission or anything. Mostly training and maintaining our combat readiness. However, it felt like the calm before a storm. My sense is tingling and itching to tell me something is definitely wrong. Very wrong indeed.

"*Sigh*… even a well brewed coffee tastes foul with this ominous foreboding feeling I keep getting." I sighed as I stared out the window at Tanya accompanying her Wing to perform their usual training to fight in various formations and testing out battle tactics she came up with.

Meanwhile, I stayed in my room with a sour expression looking out the window. All my previous issues had been resolved and I should feel happy and liberated and yet all I can feel is more stress. Sitting and resting against a soft and warm body of a female. Something the previous me will probably say he will die for but for me, it's a torture.

Why, you ask?

Well, not that I'm a monk that swore to abstain from all worldly desire an shit. But, my body is similar to that of a growing teenager despite having a physical age of only 10 but my height is already accelerating to 130cm from around 110cm like Tanya . Curse this hormonal teenager phase. I have to constantly keep my Tranquil Mind active to have a semblance of self control lately and Charlotte's attaching herself to me 24/7 isn't helping at all.

"What's wrong, master? You are frowning and sighing like an old man, you know?" Charlotte asked, definitely making fun of me again but well, I shall continue to ignore her and monologuing on my own.

After I was done with Tanya, my immediate goal shifted back to leaving this world. But, without an ability specifically to travel between universes, I could only create one which is the skill Dimension Tear. A rather crude skill inspired by how the Holy Grail pierce a hole in space and time to reach the root. I could only guess due to lack of proof but Root is technically the outermost layer of the Nasuverse and just outside of it is the multiverse that contains these universes.

By the same logic, I can enter another world within the same universe. But my goal is to enter another universe rather than another world of the same universe. But this is the ceiling of what I could achieve with barely developed magic knowledge in this world.

Even if I use what I have now to attempt traveling through space and time in hope to find another universe, my chance of success is honestly low. Too low for me to consider a usable method because it's like trying to swim across the seas to reach another continent. Even if I know the way, there is a high chance of getting lost or an accident happening midway. Thus, I must build a boat and compass that can increase my chance of reaching my destination.

*Ding*

[Ability 'Future Divination' created successfully.]

[Ability 'Probability Calculation' created successfully.]

[Ability 'Time Manipulation' obtained.]

A series of notifications made me pause and quickly take a look at the notification. It seems that the task I've been doing at the back of my mind is finally finished. It's time to work on the compass.

The skill I just got was actually the parts needed to create an ability that can solve the majority of the problem the present me is facing by tapping into the multiple possibilities of the future that can happen and guide me to the best possible solution.

To explain it better, it is like having three branching roads and only one leads me to my destination. The ability works like a compass that always points to the destination but will not tell me the exact path to take. Thus it's not almighty but still extremely useful than going blind.

"Merge ability."

[Confirm merging [Future Divination], [Probability Calculation] and [Time Manipulation] with a success chance of 27.92%?]

"Wait, why is the chance that low?" I questioned the system immediately.

[Player are attempting to create a high rarity ability with disproportionately low rarity ability.]

"I see…" I nodded while my mind quickly stirred to find a solution.

"Is it possible to downgrade the ability I am trying to create to increase the success rate?"

[Yes.]

"Do it then, Confirm." I accepted when the success rate increased to above 70%.

[Confirmation received. Downgrading the resulting ability. Merging [Future Divination], [Probability Calculation] and [Time Manipulation].]

[1%... 27%... 53%... 69%... 82%... 100%]

[Congratulations, player obtained new ability, [Future Calculation]]

[Future Calculation]

Abilities which use hyper senses, hyper cognition and limited access to the River of Time to collect and evaluate all relevant information and variables to calculate and provide near accurate estimation of the future. This ability however is incredibly taxing on the brain to carry out intense and extensive calculations.

A smile finally was able to creep up to my face after having a foul mood for quite a while. I didn't wait and immediately used the ability to test it out.

"What is the chance for Being X to retaliate against me?"

[99.99%]

"Well shit…" I expected it but after being confirmed, I couldn't help but feel annoyed having to deal with his temper tantrums.

"What is the chance that his retaliation will result in my death with my current strength?" I asked again but this time, the calculation didn't appear instantly and took a bit of time and mental exhaustion.

[68.39%]

"What is the chance for Being X to take action personally?"

[42.12%]

"That's quite high… I do expect it to be way lower than this. It's almost 50%." I complained with frustration but felt Charlotte putting her arms around my waist and hugging me tight as if trying to comfort me.

(Charlotte is almost 150 cm tall, Ray is currently just reach 120cm)

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. If Being X can influence people albeit in a subtle way that doesn't look too radical. What is the chance for him to put all nations against the Empire to kill me?

"What is the chance for Being X to dogpile the Empire with other nations?"

[89.47%]

"Fu-"

"EMERGENCY TRANSMISSION FROM THE CAPITAL!" Before I could finish cursing, a guard came running to inform Tanya that is still performing training. I ignored it and tried to make one last prediction.

"What is the chance fo-" Before I could finish my words, a sudden loud throb was felt on my left chest. Then I felt a warm fluid flowing out my nostrils. I touch it with my hand before taking a look.

"Bloods?" I said before drowsiness overwhelmed my mind and darkness quickly consumed by vision as my body turned limp.

Apparently I already reached the usage limit and my brain was very overtaxed that it just shut down without any warning. For an ability this useful and strong, such a side effect is to be expected but for it to come without warning and immediately make me unconscious, however, that was totally unexpected. Thank goodness I already have someone that I can trust taking care of me instead of being alone and vulnerable.

———

"Master! Master!" Charlotte, who felt something went wrong with Ray, suddenly put him on a flat surface to inspect his condition.

Her beloved master's face is red and his forehead is scorching hot. No wonder he is having a nosebleed. She quickly uses the magecraft her master taught her and conjures a towel that she soaks with water from the water pitcher to wipe his forehead and tries to reduce the heat.

The attempt was, however, useless as the heat continued to rise. She quickly carried him to the bathroom and tried to cool his body with a cold water bath which worked a little but not much. At least he wasn't at risk anymore when his temperature stopped rising and started to lower.

While Charlotte is busy taking care of Ray that overused his ability, Tanya is in the war room, listening to the new order coming from her direct superior.

"Major Tanya Von Degurechaff?" The person talking through the device that broadcasts voice transmission asked.

"Yes! This is the Commander of the Flight Mage Wing, Major Tanya von Degurechaff answering." Tanya responded.

"I see…" The voice sounded tired as it replied. "Wonderful to find that the trump card of the military still retains its loyalty to the Empire."

"What happened sir? Has something happened to the Empire?" Tanya asked with a grim tone because she can feel a bad foreboding feeling slowly creep up on her.

"The Empire is in a very dire straits. Almost all nations nearby declared war against the Empire and were led by the United Kingdom of Albion Kingdom." The voice explained with exasperation.

"That's impossible! There are treaties put in place to forbid the major power from declaring war against the Empire."

"We do not know what happened but they collectively decided to ignore the treaties. Not just the Commonwealth, even the Unified State is supporting the war and now the government and military is in chaos as many fled their post or defected the moment the news reached the Imperial Palace." The voice said before a loud noise appeared from the background. "We are running out of time. The Imperial Majesty requested your Wing to be deployed under Brigadier General Zettour's approval to suppress the coup the traitors are staging in the capital."

"Yessir!" Tanya accepted the order reluctantly on the inside.

"Also, Brigadier General Zettour said that until the capital stabilizes, Sir Ray will be in command of you and your unit under the order of his Imperial Majesty." The voice said before it abruptly cutted off.

Tanya immediately stomp her feet knowing how desperate the Empire really are right now after hearing the last order. To put a newly appointed person into such a position of power normally would be for testing the person. But in this situation, it's nothing but a desperate attempt because there is no one to trust anymore. The old officers have too much to lose and definitely will choose to defect. They have no choice but to put trust in a new blood that has nothing significant yet that can sway his loyalty.

Visha storms into the room after hearing the angry stomp from Tanya and quickly enters to check if something bad happened. It definitely does because her commander's face is twisted in anger and indecisiveness.

Tanya turns her gaze from the floor to her adjutant and orders her with her teeth grinding from anger. Anger that she is stuck in this situation and Ray will also be in danger alongside her but there is nothing she could do.

"Order everyone to gear up. We have a new task at hand." Tanya ordered and Visha looked concerned at her but quickly nodded and went to deliver her order.

She cannot even defect now if they wanted because she has no connection to do seeks asylum from outside the Empire. Ray is the same too.

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