Alwin looked around at the numerous bottles around him. Within each one were different types of spices. Some were filled with fine powders: reddish-brown, yellow-orange, black, and even purple. Others contained whole spices: small and hard ball-looking spices, a triangle-shaped one, and even one that looked like a miniature knife.

All in all, Alwin didn't know what he was working with. All he knew was that if a fireball were to breach the young masters' defenses, they'd at least come out tasting and smelling yummy.

If flames didn't end him, then a million volts would.

Try as he might to ignore the Tribulation ramping up before his very eyes, he couldn't resist the allure of watching an enemy transform. The storm clouds above were condensing into a single point. The gray clouds grew darker, becoming pitch black. Crackles and booms thundered throughout the kitchen. Lightning continued to flash within it, lighting the dark cover.

As the clouds took shape, it descended to the ground. Still, that didn't stop it from launching bolts of lightning in every direction. Some struck the legs of the System Screen bot, some struck the mini bots, and some even struck the two young masters. Huang Jian grunted under the strain as the Lightning Net wavered.

The strikes had grown in power. He was barely holding on.

Lightning stretched around the dark and ominous cloud. It crackled with energy and took on a new form. The electricity narrowed out into a set of limbs—thin, needle-like appendages. And a head made entirely of yellow sparks. The cloud was like a black dress, hiding its most private parts.

With its newly formed limbs, it brought its lightning hands together. As it pulled them apart, electricity followed the arc it created, forming a bow forged from pure lightning. The Tribulation creature pulled back on the lightning bow and shot its needle-like hand at Huang Jian.

The unorthodox lightning arrow struck the cultivator's Lightning Net. Streaks of electricity zapped out of the grid-like structure as Huang Jian struggled to stabilize his defenses. The net became loose, almost collapsing on top of them, before he willed even more energy into keeping it stable. Huang Jian roared as the net rose up to its full height and became taut again. With such a huge influx of power, the Lightning Net grew by a noticeable amount. The bars of lightning had become thicker and more vibrant with power.

But that was only just one attack.

As its lightning hand regrew, it continued to fire off bolts. Electricity spewed out of its needle-like legs. Instead of the indiscriminate nature of its previous attacks, these were targeted. Each bolt homed in on the Lightning Net, and everyone standing close to it.

Huang Jian barely managed to hold on, allowing the strikes to be absorbed by the net and further empowering it. But the bigger it grew, the more energy it took for him to maintain it. His face was pale, and his knees trembled. If it shot another lightning arrow, he probably wouldn't be able to hold on.

And the creature's hand was already halfway reformed.

There was no time to waste. Although it might've seemed like Alwin had actually squandered a couple of moments watching the Lightning Tribulation almost destroy the one thing that protected him. In reality, he was practicing an extremely coveted skill. Multitasking.

One eye was fixed on the scene around him, while the other was on the myriad of spices at his disposal. Given how dire the situation was, he went a step further. One nostril sniffed the spices, and the other sniffed the fumes the Burning Basket produced. And one ear was reserved for the battle, while the other listened to the spices, just in case they told him which one did what.

Unsurprisingly, the spices didn't talk to him.

Even Niwla and Winal were discussing which spices to use to alleviate the pain. They dug through their shared memories, honing in on the instances when Gary Stew used Thyme to Sleep. It was fruitless. All they could remember was a blur of multi-colored spices coating the knife. Which spice did what remained a mystery.

Throwing caution and Niwla's objections to the wind, Alwin commanded his Spirit Hands. They dug into the bottles and threw pinches of spice his way. The slime was doused in all manner of powders and whole spices. As he continued to scream, some entered his mouth, causing him to cough as he choked on something spicy, then something sweet and salty, before a huge clump of whole spices was forced down his throat.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Soon, the bottles were empty; only residue and a few stray specks remained at the bottom of the glass container. All of them lay in piles below, on, and inside his body, marinating him in an amalgamation of spices.

It was working.

Well, something was working.

The pain increased tenfold, and so did his screams. Then it subsided only for it to rise to the nth degree, before falling down. Each time the pain rose, his screams increased in volume. As it fell, his screams followed suit. The cycle repeated itself over and over, each cycle the peaks and troughs getting higher and lower respectively.

Then everything stopped.

Not just the pain, but time itself too.

Everything froze.

The Tribulation Cloud hung motionless in the sky. Its arm was fully grown and pulled back behind the bow. Huang Jian and Hong Jian had their mouths and eyes wide open. Supposedly, they were screaming in fear, as their defenses were about to be penetrated by the lightning arrow. It was hard to tell with everything being frozen.

Meanwhile, the System Screen bots had gone from shooting flames without a care in the world to targeting the gray cloth where Gary Stew hid. Fireballs and waves of flame hung frozen in the air, moments away from burning the cloth. As heat-resistant as it was, Alwin doubted that it could withstand the full power of a Tribulation.

Still, this was an extremely weird phenomenon. The ability to freeze time. Or at the very least, slow it down to the point where everything seemed frozen.

Alwin was going to take this opportunity to figure out the limits of this power. He was definitely not going to mess around.

He rolled forward toward the two young masters. Their faces stuck in perpetual fear. Alwin, ever the gentleman, would fix that for them. He ordered his Spirit Hands around, who were still holding onto the spice bottles. They didn't move. Like everything else around him, they were frozen.

Well, that was annoying. Time just had to throw a big fat wrench into his plan.

"Alwin, I want you to try something," Mind Niwla said. "Grab a Spirit Hand and douse them in the same combination of spices."

"I'm not in the mood for biting the hands that help me," Alwin thought back.

"Just do it!"

Alwin, begrudgingly, followed Niwla's idea. It's not like he had anything better to do.

The slime rolled toward the ring of floating Spirit Hands. He hopped up and bit one by the wrist, dragging it down to the floor with him. The spice bottle that it held remained suspended in the air.

With the Spirit Hand in his mouth, he took the biggest breath that he could muster and puffed out his chubby cheeks. Alwin spat out with the force of a thousand sick children hacking out phlegm and mucus.

The Spirit Hand crashed into the mound of colorful spices, knocking up the various powders and whole herbs into the air. After the initial explosion, they too remained suspended, like glitter that would never fall.

The Spirit Hand rose up into the air. Its once-translucent body now coated in a variety of colors, turning it into a rainbow of yumminess. Despite lacking eyes, it looked around the room in confusion. The hand stretched out its thumb to scratch the back of its hand—the equivalent of a person scratching the back of their head. Then, it turned to Alwin and signed out in surprise. It was happy that at least someone—especially its master—wasn't the only thing frozen.

Alwin grinned wide as the Spirit Hand floated to him. With a hand, he could enact his plan. This plan would definitely help him overcome the Tribulation, and it was definitely not him having fun in the worst possible time.

As Alwin rolled over to Huang Jian, Mind Niwla spoke up.

"This confirms my suspicions."

"Which is?" Alwin thought back.

"We didn't unlock a new ability to stop time."

"The fact that everything but us is frozen says otherwise. Check and mate."

"We didn't unlock it in the traditional sense. Alwin, this is the effect of the crazy combination of spices. There's no telling what will happen to us once it wears off."

"So, what you're saying is... I'm on drugs?"

"If you consider cooking ingredients as 'drugs', then yes. We are."

"Awesome!" Alwin screamed in his head.

Alwin proceeded to ignore Niwla's pleas to be careful. He ignored him when he pointed out that the effects could wear off at any moment. His attention was elsewhere.

He was high on spice after all.

The slime was a man of his word and would help the young masters. He commanded the Spirit Hand to turn their frowns upside down. The rainbow, spice-coated hand pressed its finger into the face. It shifted their downturned lips upwards and unfurrowed their brows.

Now, the two young masters weren't screaming in fear for their lives. They were smiling! That was progress.

Admittedly, their smiles were crooked, unnatural, and had a dusting of spices wherever the Spirit Hand touched. But they were smiling, so it was good enough for him.

The Spirit Hand returned to Alwin's side, awaiting orders. He was still thinking, coming up with ways to abuse this sudden burst of speed. Then, an idea struck him.

He looked up at the Lightning Tribulation. Its needle-like arm pulled back against its electric bow, aiming at the young masters Lightning Net and Burning Basket. Alwin turned around, facing the Fire Tribulation bot and its mini-bots.

This wasn't going to be a half-baked plan like earlier. He was going to ensure it was fully baked and seasoned to perfection.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.