Looking at Gu Daiyu's unconscious body lying on the ground, I let out a sigh of relief. My gamble had paid off, which was impossible not to rejoice over. True, if it hadn't worked, I was ready to dive right back into my own world, but thankfully it hadn't come to that. It would have been a shame to kick my own pride again over losing to someone roughly at my power level. And I'd won for two simple reasons: they underestimated me, and she didn't know about my time element. Let's break it down.
The poison Gu Daiyu released at the end of the fight was clearly much stronger than what she'd tried to take me out with earlier. And since she'd only used it when I truly threatened her life, it meant they wanted me alive—which was obvious even from our dialogue between clashes. If she'd unleashed her innate poison from the start, I wouldn't have had a chance at victory, not even with fusion magic. That girl would have simply disintegrated everything around her, no matter if I defended with spatial element, ice, or other abilities. But I could have escaped either way, which is comforting.
Her unfamiliarity with my time element also played a role. As I'd mentioned, specialized poisons don't affect things they weren't designed for. Gu Daiyu did have "Space Burner" poison, but though time element falls under dimensional magic, that doesn't mean the same countermeasures work on it. She simply couldn't damage the spell construct I'd placed on myself at the fight's beginning.
What spell was it? Oh, it was one of my favorites from my past life, before we started battling all that chthonic stuff that takes hours to even scratch. Specifically, the first tier Mid-level "Save Point" of the time element.
Despite its grandiose name—which would better suit something High-level rather than Mid—it isn't all-powerful and has some pretty strict limitations that make it impractical against chthonic horrors or in surprise fights. Namely: it dissipates after ten minutes, I have to manually trigger it, my time element mana doesn't recover after use, and it has a limited radius of a couple hundred meters from the cast point. Doesn't sound so great now, huh?
So, after casting "Save Point," my body's position and health status get saved into the spell template. Then I can only move within the designated radius from that point, or the spell dissipates. After triggering and respawning at the save point, my time element mana—unlike other elements—doesn't regenerate, so I can only pull this trick a limited number of times per fight. Goodbye infinite mana regen mid-battle.
To activate it, I have to give it a mental command. So if an enemy directly attacked my soul before death and I died without issuing the command, I'd really die for good, and my body wouldn't respawn at the save point.
As for using it in surprise fights, that's simple. Battles between mages—or a mage and a monster of similar power and control—often resemble turn-based games. If it takes me five seconds to cast a spell and my opponent the same, it's hard to squeeze in an extra one that doesn't directly affect them amid the rhythm.
Either you create an opening mid-fight, which isn't always possible, or cast it beforehand, like I did here. Luckily, in this life I have Triple Cast talent, so I can easily allocate one of the three slots briefly for the needed spell. Eh, I should send a couple more gifts to that Heidi I stole it from—our exchange ended up pretty uneven.
Stowing away the Shadow Weaver armor from my spiritual world—which let me hide in my opponent's shadow after respawning at the Save Point—I picked up Gu Daiyu and headed toward the distant house visible ahead. We'd thoroughly demolished her home during the fight.
Eh, and if not for my last three spiritual attacks that disoriented her, I never could have tricked her like that. Spatial perception doesn't just vanish. Luckily, her spiritual boundary is one level below mine; if we'd been equal, I'd have had to run too, even with her holding back. Now that's a real monster. Not everyone can pressure me like that without cheats.
Finally reaching the somewhat rundown house, I opened the door with telekinesis and went inside. Man, no one's lived here in ages. Whatever, I doubt my burden will mind sleeping on unwashed sheets months old. Nodding to myself, I entered the bedroom, straightened the bed with telekinesis, and laid Gu Daiyu on it.
Then I cast six "Healing Butterflies" to heal her as quickly as possible. Despite her attacking me to "teach" me a lesson, I still wanted her as my teacher. And even without knowing all the factors behind her behavior, I partly understood her. Life as a poison element mage isn't easy, and for a good one who takes students, it's even harder.
Just ten minutes later, my opponent woke up but didn't show it. Only after confirming with her spatial perception that there were no threats around—just me sitting on a chair nearby—did she open her eyes.
"I'm alive, healed, and not bound in any way. You're either a madman who loves being targeted for death, or some saint who became a poison element mage by divine mishap," she said with a mocking gaze, but didn't attack. Well, progress.
"I don't like being targeted for death—hell, I don't even like fighting much—but in our world, you can't avoid it. That's why I came to you, Master Gu Daiyu. Please, teach me everything you know about the poison element," I said, placing my palm over my fist and bowing slightly, just like at our first meeting.
"Fu-fu-fu, what a curious boy. But since you didn't kill me when you had the chance, I'll give you a little credit and accept you as a student—without my usual 'welcome bonus.' Don't disappoint me, or you'll get it like all my other charges," she said slyly, squinting as she put her hands behind her head and relaxed on the bed.
"So I'd have become your student either way? Then what's the catch, and what's this 'welcome bonus'?" I asked curiously.
"Ooo, you really know nothing about me except that I'm the best poison element mage? Man, I should have guessed when you were surprised by my healing element. Maybe the fight wouldn't have been necessary then. But I loved it—it's been ages since anyone beat me at my level," she nodded at me with respect.
"Don't downplay it, Master. If you'd unleashed that terrifying poison from the start—the bit you used at the end—I could only have fled," I said modestly, though I'd just been reveling inwardly in my victory.
"Defeat is defeat. I never make excuses. If I erred, I don't blame others or external factors—I admit my incompetence and work on it. Don't cheapen my hard-won defeat with your words," she said proudly, lifting her chin. Man, what a strong lady. Now I really don't want her dying at twenty-seven.
"Fine, Master, as you say. So what's this 'welcome bonus' you gave your other students? I only heard those ungrates cursing you," I repeated my question.
"Ooo, my little darlings have every right. All my students used to be men, and I changed that. Mmm, I was so thrilled when I developed that gender-swap poison," she grabbed her flushed cheeks and breathed heavily, lost in memory.
Her words sent shivers down my spine, and I hurriedly reinforced the spatial barrier around me. What the hell—my joke poison effect is real, and by the Dark King, I'm sitting in front of its creator!? God, why!? How can I work with her calmly now!? She could turn me into a girl any moment!
Gu Daiyu, seeing my suddenly pale face, just giggled mockingly.