Time seemed to slow down, and Arthur’s world became the blade lodged in Ayesha’s eye socket. Power rushed through his body, whatever he’d just done with his soul flushing him with raw fuel. Arthur felt the exact moment Ayesha accepted his durability enhancement.His friend was being tortured. She was in more pain than she’d probably ever experienced before. Ayesha was a fighter, though, and even blinded and limbless, she would do whatever it took to survive. The soul oath rested at the centre of Arthur’s being, a twisted knot that burned to produce energy. That was when Arthur realised what was happening. The soul oath was literally using itself, and thereby him as fuel to produce the energy required to fulfill it. The boost in power wasn’t sustainable, though. Arthur estimated it would only last for a few minutes, and it would leave him with some severe soul burns once it had run its course. Soul burns that Arthur suspected would be far more difficult to heal than his missing hand. The pain in Arthur’s skull had become all-consuming; the pressure on his sub-brain reached a critical point. The moment he stopped being able to perceive the angel's movement would spell the end for Ayesha. Arthur activated Augmented Recovery, but it did little to help. He could heal the damage to his brain, but fatigue wasn’t something the skill could deal with. The angel looked down at Ayesha in confusion and pulled the sword from her skull.“That’s strange. How did you suddenly become so durable?”Ayesha, of course, was in no state to answer. Arthur tried not to grin. The angel had missed one critical detail. He’d interacted with Ayesha’s prone form for thirty-three seconds. For the last seven of those, she’d become five times more durable, five times less susceptible to whatever time field the angel was maintaining around himself. Arthur’s headache rapidly cleared up, as the angel's personal timeline slowed down by half. He (...)